The Mix Up
by Vikki3775
Summary: She hated him, he hated her. Simple. Finchel au.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! Yes, I know I should be posting another chapter of Save Money Live Better or The Man Who Can't Be Moved but I wanted to take a small break from it to give you guys this short story. It was something that crossed my mind and I really think this could help me practice my humor and jokes in stories so that I can make my chapters more fun. Overall, I hope you all like it!**

 **~Vikki3775**

* * *

It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The sun was out, the birds were chirping, and strangers often stopped to send greetings towards each other as warm as the sixty degrees weather outside.

It all made Finn _sick_.

"Ugh..." Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he put his sunglasses back on. "Dude, why are we meeting up here so early? And on a Sunday, nonetheless."

His mohawked friend sighed as he surveyed the building in front of them. "You think I wanted to get up this early and skip out on Sunday morning sex? This was the only day they had available and Quinn _insisted_ that we check this place out."

Snickering, Finn muttered, "Whipped."

"It's better than the way your living, fuck face," Puck retorted back, smirking at him. "It's not my fault you decided to drown yourself in booze last night."

Finn gave a grunting sound in response. They were standing outside La Fête, a very popular and _very_ expensive venue business located in the upper east part of Manhattan. Quinn insisted on this being the best place to book your wedding reception, but in his opinion, it looked like a place that would make any middle class citizen feel like trash. Trust me, if he had the choice, he wouldn't be here. But with being the best man and friend of the groom, he had no choice but to come along.

Looking down at his watch, Finn sighed. "Dude, when are they going to be he-"

"We're here!" A rushed Quinn and Rachel approached them, notepads and pens in their hands.

"Of course..." Finn muttered grudgingly. He almost forgot; _she_ was here. Almost as if she knew he was thinking about her, the brunette sent a quick but sharp glare in his direction.

"Babe, I'm so sorry," the blonde apologized as she gave her fiance a quick peck on the lips. "There was an accident just ten blocks down from here and we were stuck in traffic. I hope we didn't leave you guys here too long." They all started walking into the beautifully polished building.

"It's okay, Q. You've been talking about this place forever. And i'll be damned if we don't find the room of your dreams." From behind them, Rachel smiled softly, Finn pretended to gag next to her. She rolled her eyes at his immaturity.

When they approached the marble front desk, they were greeted by a sophisticatedly dressed older lady who smiled at them. "Hello. Are you all here for a tour?"

"Yes." Quinn smiled excitedly. "We're planning on booking a room for a wedding reception."

At the word wedding, she visibly perked up and smiled wider. "Well, that's wonderful! There's nothing more beautiful in life than a promise between two lovers." To the bartender's confusion, she looked at Finn and Rachel as she spoke. But before we start the tour, I'm going to need you all to fill out a few forms about the to-be weds, the maid of honor, all that stuff. Is that alright?"She asked.

"Yes, yes! We'll sign. Come on, Puck." As the couple walked ahead and signed the forms, Rachel heard Finn chuckle from beside her. She looked at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"Is there a problem?"

He shook his head, grinning lopsidedly. "No, there's no problem. I'm just surprised you're here, that's all." Turning completely towards him, she crossed her small arms, raising an eyebrow.

"And why is that?"

"I just thought you'd be doing something else today instead of being here," he explained, still looking straight ahead. "I mean, no one messes with Rachel Berry's spa Sundays, right?"

Gaping at him in disbelief, she said, "Are you serious right now?"

"No, I'm not," he responded sarcastically.

Angry, Rachel walked closer to him, speaking quieter this time. "Need I remind you of the many times you've skipped out on your best man duties because of some quick lay or-or some _drinking party_?"

Grinning coyly he says, "Beats singing in a diner, sweetheart."

"Gosh, you're so frustratin-"

" _Guys_?"

Puck and Quinn turned around to find their best friends standing close together with fake smiles on their faces, Finn's arm wrapped around her shoulders while her head rested against his side.

"Yes, Quinn?" The brunette asked a little too happily.

"We need you to sign the forms."

"Oops. Sorry." With a fake smile, she eagerly walked to the counter as far away from him as she could.

It's always been like this. When Quinn, Puck and Finn met in preschool, they became friends instantly. Things were fine and peaceful for the trio; fun even. That is, until Rachel moved into town. With many fights and arguments between them throughout the years, let's just say many parent-teacher meetings were held between Rachel's fathers and Finn's parents-so many that caused all four of the adults to gain a strong bond, therefore making it almost impossible for them _not_ to run into each other.

So here they were. Both of them, twenty-five years old with the same malice they held for each other twenty years ago.

And Puck and Quinn have been through the most of it. After years and years of arguing and fighting with them, the couple finally reached their breaking point.

 _"Okay, that's it!" The blonde 19 year old yelled from from the patio of her parent's house. Both Finn and Rachel halted their actions and looked at her fuming face._

 _"This has been going on for too long! You mean to tell me, after all these years you guys can't find one thing in common? You guys still can't get along?!"_

 _"But it wasn't me this time, Quinn," a younger Rachel protested._

 _"Oh please, when is it not you, Rachel-"_

 _"Was I talking to you?"_

 _"Might as well if you're yapping about me in front of my face-"_

 _"Shut up!" Puck yelled, his face turning red. "When are you guys just going to put this petty shit behind you and get along?!"_

 _So that's when they knew they had to do something, anything to keep the friendship between the four of them in tact._

 _The night of the party, Rachel caught Finn walking to his car. She grabbed his arm softly. "Finn."_

 _He sighed tiredly and turned around. "What do you want, midget?"_

 _She ignored the insult. "Quinn and Puck are really angry with us. Like, really angry."_

 _"So? They always get angry with us. It'll go away in a few days."_

 _"I don't think so, Finn," She leaned closer to him and spoke softly as she said, "We have to make this right."_

 _He frowned at her and shrugged. "How? By actually getting along? Because we both know that ain't happening."_

 _"We could pretend," she offers. "I personally have a lot of acting experience so it wouldn't be hard for me, and I could always give you some tips to help-"_

 _"Woah, woah, woah." He frowned at her. "So let me get this straight...you want us to pretend to be friends? To pretend to get along for as long as we're friends with Quinn and Puck?"_

 _She nodded silently._

 _It took a while for him to process this, but once he did, the corner of his mouth lifted up in a grin. "That might have been the smartest thing I have ever heard come out of your big mouth."_

 _Aside from the small argument that soon followed that statement, both Finn and Rachel were able to keep their dislike for each other under wraps._

With both of their minds too focused on each other, they failed to check the right box on the paper.

As the older woman collected the papers, she smiled at them. "Well, let's take a look around, shall we?" With an excited squeal, Quinn clapped her hands and eagerly followed her.

"Guys, come on!" With tense grins, both Finn and Rachel followed the couple.

Wrapping his arms around her shoulders again, Finn sighed, letting out an _'ah'_ sound. "I hate you."

Chuckling all too sweetly, Rachel said, "Oh, trust me, Finn. The feelings mutual."

* * *

 _Knock knock._

"Okay, okay, I hear you!" A still half asleep Finn marched up to the front door and opened it. Across from him revealed a very attractive looking blonde with blue eyes and a big smile.

How can she be so happy this early?

"Hi! Are you Finn Hudson?"

He didn't know what to say besides a croaked out, "Yeah?"

"I'm Brittany S. Pierce. I'm the host for the famous game show, " : the ultimate test to see how much you know your partner."

A game show? Closing his eyes, he waved his hand dismissively, saying, "Look, if this is one of these survey things where I have to these answer random questions, I'm not doing it. Can you at least come back when I'm not resting up for work?" He watched as she stared blankly at him.

"What's a survey? Ooh, is it one of those things where weird smelling people approach your door to talk about politics?"

Finn's hand dropped carelessly at his side as he gaped at her. She can't be serious.

Finn reached a hand up to itch the unruly mop on his head. Why would she be talking to him about a couples game show if she's not giving him a survey? He's not with anybody. I mean, does it _look_ like he's with somebody?

"I'd like to talk with you and your girlfriend about this great opportunity."

"I-I'm sorry," he interrupted hoarsely as she continued to exclaim the show to him. "You must have mistaken me with someone else. I'm not in a rela-"

"That's not what the lady with the fur coat said."

He's so confused. "The lady with the w-what? Huh?"

"The woman behind the front desk at La Fête. Yeah, she said you and your girlfriend Rachel Berry were a great choice for the show and you can't go wrong with old ladies who wear fur coats." She exclaimed.

 _Ohhh..._ Finally getting it, Finn smiled apologetically. "Oh, you see, she must've mistaken us for another couple. Rachel and I...we-we're not-"

"All we need is one more couple so we could get started with the season." She sighed, suddenly dejected. "You see, my husband is the director of the show and we're running out of time. If we don't find a couple in two weeks, the show will be cancelled and i'll have to give my cat up for adoption. And look, if you guys win, you'll get 400,000 dollars! You can buy like...a thousand unicorns with that!" Her blue eyes seemed to sparkle at the name of the mystical creature.

Through all of her confusing gibberish he only focused on one thing. "Did you just say 400,000 dollars?" His eyes widened when she nodded. Was it possible to get aroused at the thought of money?

"Why didn't you guys just make it 500,000 dollars?"

The blonde tilted her head slightly to the side as she said, "Huh?"

"Wouldn't it be better if you made it a half a million dollars?" Finn asked. "That way the couple could still split it fifty-fifty."

Her smile faltered. "Oh."

He nodded slowly, drawing out, "Yeah."

Her smile returned almost instantly as she shrugged. "Oh well! All I need is a your signatures and I can-"

"Well, why didn't you just ask?" Finn responded quickly, his mood suddenly lifted. This was great! He could practically hear the _"Cha-Ching!"_ sound repeat in his head like a catchy song.

As he signed the contract with his sloppy handwriting, he failed to think about what he was getting into.

Or rather _who_ he was getting into it with.

* * *

"You did _what_?!"

Uncomfortable, Finn looked around the café in caution. "Jeez, can you yell any louder? I'm right here, you know."

Rachel gasped dramatically and placed a hand on her chest. "Oh, I'm sorry, was my complete and utter spoken words of frustration and disbelief hurting your precious little ears? Get over it, Finn!"

"Look, it's not that big of a deal," Finn says in a nonchalant tone. "The filming of the show lasts about a month, two months tops, and-and we could get four hundred grand! Plus, you're always telling me how much you love acting and stuff..." his sentence drifted off as he cowered in his seat at the glare sent his way across the café table. Well, this didn't go as planned. It probably would've helped the situation if he had told her about it before he signed the contract.

Sighing, she pinched the bridge of her nose as she stared down at the table. "I just...I have no idea what goes through your head sometimes."

He sneakily tries to pick a small piece off of her blueberry muffin when he thinks she hasn't seen him."You make it sound like I'm all wacko and shit."

Slapping his hand away, she says loudly, "That's because you are!" Silence fell over the whole café as the other diners looked at them due to her outburst. With pink, tinted cheeks, she placed both palms of her hands on the table and leaned in closer.

"Do you know how hard it is for me to even be _sitting_ with you right now? And now you're telling me that we have to pretend to be together for _two months_?" She said with a harsh whisper.

"We've done it before; many times when we were around Puck and Quinn."

Her brown eyes widened as she said exasperatedly, "Yes, but only them! We agreed we would only do it for them to keep our friendships in tact. Pretending to be friends is a lot different than making up a whole relationship! Plus, how were you even able to sign my name when I wasn't even there?"

Rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, Finn replied, "I sort of lied and said you were out shopping at the mall with some friends." At this, she gaped at him. He stuttered, "Th-The girl wasn't really that bright anyways, so she took my word for it." She rolled her eyes. The bartender took both of his hands and placed it gently on hers which was still on the table. Rachel visibly tensed up.

Finn sighed. "Look, I know I shouldn't have lied or forged your signature and I'm sorry, but...what if we _do_ win? I mean, we must be good enough actors to be able to convince Puck and Quinn that we're all close. Hell, we were able to convince a random stranger at some venue place. What harm would it do if we just convinced more people this time? Plus, you can't look at me in the eye and not tell me that the money doesn't sound a little tempting. We'll be rich, well, rich enough." He watched her bite her bottom lip as he continued, "Don't you get tired of spending hours a day working at a lousy diner, only to spend the weekend giving piano lessons to some spoiled kids? I know I hate serving creepy those creepy, miserable alcoholics every night at the bar. Don't you want to feel something for the rest of your life? To feel accomplished?"

He already knew what would come out of her mouth. "Yes," she whispered.

"Then why not take the opportunity? W-Why not prove that your dreams aren't unreasonable, or dead? That we're more than what they say we are?" He squeezed her small hands softly for emphasis. A small moment of silence passed as the brunette processed this. Then, as if a little child were to say it, he heard a meek, "Yes."

Straightening up in his seat, he smiled. "Yes? As in you'll do it?"

With a sigh, she shook her head, a small grin forming at the lips as she muttered, "I can't believe we're doing this."

"Yes!" He cheered as he fisted the air in victory. He smiled at her giggle.

 _Mission accomplished._

* * *

 **There's the first chapter! I hope you guys liked it so far and I promise to post the second chapter as soon as possible.**

 **~Vikki3775**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **~Vikki3775**

* * *

Rachel sighed and continued to fold her clothes neatly as she listened to the whining voice of Finn coming from her laptop.

"Finn, I'm not going to say it again. You need to practice those lines."

"But they sound ridiculous!" She rolled her eyes as he repeated the lines to her. "We met at a Broadway theater convention between the Wicked and Cabaret themed workshops? Our eyes met over a low fat pumpkin spice latte at Starbucks? Either I'm gay or really desperate to get laid."

Biting back a smile, she placed one of her shirts back on her bed and looked at him. "It doesn't sound gay, okay? Don't you have a gay stepbrother? You should know that all gay guys aren't underage same prejudice stereotypes." Through the screen his face remained exasperated. "If you're so sure this script is "gay," then why don't you think of something better?" She huffed.

He rose an eyebrow at her, saying, "Um, did you not remember that you sent me a whole fucking book filled with random information about you that I have to remember by tomorrow?"

She rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Stop over exaggerating, it was only three pages. I'm still packing, so I don't have time to write a whole new script by tomorrow." Rachel let out a breath and ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, maybe we can fix the script once we get there, okay? We need to get to bed soon so we don't wake up as zombies tomorrow; and by 'we', I mean you."

He rolled his amber eyes at her directions. "Okay, mom." Finn sighed and said, "I'm gonna log off. I'll see you in the morning, or something."

The petite brunette walked to the computer. "Okay, Finn. Bye."

He grinned lopsidedly at her. "Bye munchkin."

And with that he logged off.

Rachel closed her laptop and and stared silently at the semi-organized mess on her bed.

She really hopes this is worth it.

* * *

With raised eyebrows Finn stared blankly at the t-shirt. "Nope," he stated.

"Finn, come on," Rachel whined. "It's not that bad. Look," she rose the horrifying looking shirt in front of her so he could get a better view. "It'll fit you nice, and-and look! It's your favorite color! Didn't you say we needed to be a convincing couple?"

"Yeah, but not one that looks like they kidnap little kids!" Finn's eye twitched at the piece of clothing. It's worse enough he had to sit through a thirteen hour plane ride hearing her loud, naggy voice, but now he has to wear an ugly matching t-shirt with her on Monday? No way.

The shirt was baby blue and held a cut-out picture of her face square in the middle, the words "Team Finchel" under it, mocking him every minute he stared at it.

"What the hell is Finchel anyways?" He interrupted through her annoying nags.

She stopped speaking and blinked. "Oh. It's a combination of our names; 'Finn' and 'Rachel'. It's like a ship name."

"So what, we own a boat now?"

"No," she giggled, to his annoyance. "A ship is a coupling that fans follow. It's short for "worship". I just figured it would better our chances if we were to get fans; you know, followers."

"Yeah, but did you have to bedazzle the damn thing?" He gestured towards her hot pink shirt. "On you it'll look cute, but for me I'll look like a pedophile."

"I like bedazzling, okay?" She suddenly snapped. "Do you want to win or not, Finn?"

"Of-Of course," he stuttered.

"Then we have to _push_. Anything we were once comfortable doing is completely out the picture now. We're wearing the shirts and that's final."

Finn rolled his eyes before staring at the haunting eyes of Rachel Berry plastered on his shirt. He couldn't help but cringe before sighing.

"Fine."

"Good." She nodded before turning back around and walking into the bathroom of their temporary hotel room.

"Can you at least tell me where you got that picture?"

* * *

Finn frowned to himself as he struggled to tie the blue tie around his neck in front of the mirror.

Today was the day Finn and Rachel would finally meet the rest of the cast and crew members. The first day of filming wasn't until tomorrow, but the director insisted that they have a meet and greet before all the craziness of the show starts.

Giving up, Finn grunted and started strangling the piece of cloth aggressively. When Rachel walked out of the bathroom towards him, he halted in his place. Slowly, he put it back around his neck, blushing profusely.

"Never learnt how to tie a tie," he exclaimed weakly. With a light chuckle, Rachel walked towards him.

"Come on, let me help you." A moment of silence passed as she helped assemble the tie around his neck.

"Did you look over your notes?" She asked calmly. He nodded. There was a moment of comfortable silence between them. He was the first to speak.

"Hey Rach?" She looked up at him, her expression surprised for a second before returning back to normal.

"Yes?" She asked.

"How come we have to memorize all of these lines if we're not even filming today?"

"Because," she tucked the tie under the collar neatly, "if we act one way before filming and then act completely different when the cameras are on us, then it'll be obvious that we're faking it."

"But do you really think they care?" He asked. "Reality shows are all about lies anyways, so what bad would it do if we were to act normal this one day?"

The brunette decided to stare deeply in his eyes, he expression solemn as she said, "It'd be very bad, Finn. If we were to accidentally reveal our secret to any of the cast and crew members, they could sabotage us. That means spilling it to the press, magazines, everywhere and we'd be seen as frauds." She finished tying his tie but kept her hands around his neck.

"But isn't that what we are? frauds?" He questioned.

"Yes, but no one has to know that." Obviously frowned finished with the conversation, she stepped away from him and smiled. "Now seriousness aside, how do I look?"

Wearing a sparkly navy blue dress, she gave him a proper view of her twirling around in circles which greatly showed her beautifully toned legs. Her black heels made her seem taller but the way her wavy curls perfectly framed her pretty little face took his breath away.

She stopped twirling, giggling. "I better stop before I get dizzy." She topped and looked up at him expectantly. "Well?"

A silence lasting way too long made her laugh nervously. "Finn?"

An unreadable expression passed over his face as he gazed into her eyes.

"What?" She frowned before smirking. "Oh, are you trying to call me something gruesome, like a troll? Ooh, I've got a good one. A trying-too-hard pop star who looks like she filmed her first sex tape-"

He shook his head at her antics. "No." Sucking in a deep breath, he said, "You look beautiful." She must have been surprised by his answer because she opened her mouth and widened her eyes.

"Well," she said after a second, "thank you." She smiled and looked him up and down. "You don't look too bad yourself, Hudson. But I did pick out the outfit, so..."

He rolled his eyes playfully at her. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, take all the credit, why don't you?" She giggled at him, her cheeks pinking a little. He reached out and grabbed her hand gently, walking towards the door.

"Let's go, midget."

* * *

As Finn and Rachel approached the Italian restaurant, Finn stopped her.

She frowned and looked up at him. "What, Finn? We're already five minutes late-"

"Just wait a second. I've got something to say." Sighing in defeat, she crossed her arms.

"Okay, go on."

He exhaled a shaky breath. "Now, I know this plan was completely unexpected and I kind of dragged you into it-"

"Not 'kind of,' you did-"

"Yeah and I feel really bad about that. And- And I know we've never actually gotten along well, but-"

"But what's your point?" She asked impatiently.

He sighed and closed his eyes for a second. "The point is, it didn't take me 'till yesterday to actually remember that we're supposed to be engaged, and I still haven't given you a ring yet. So..." Clumsily, he dug his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a red velvet box. Rachel sucked in a breath.

The bartender stared down at the box bashfully as he said, "I want you to have my mom's old ring. Only for a few weeks, but... I just wanted us to have proof, so that we don't go out there looking stupid or something," he rambled.

Rachel grinned amusedly at his nervousness as he slowly opened the box. She gasped when she saw the piece of jewelry which twinkled in the moonlight.

"It's so beautiful," she cooed, reaching out to hold the box. She was so busy admiring the ring in front of her that she failed to notice his eyes on her.

After a moment too long, he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Um, okay, so if you would just put it on, we could get to the restaurant-"

"Not so fast," she interrupted, holding a hand up. "If we're going to do this, then we're going to this right...I want a proper proposal." A moment of silence passed them. Suddenly Finn burst out laughing.

This got her annoyed. "Why are you laughing?" She snapped.

"You want me to go on one knee?"

"Yes!"

"What?!" His laugh seemed to go higher in octave. "We're in the middle of a fucking parking lot!"

"So?!"

" _So_ , I'm not doing it!"

She frowned and watched as tears of laughter began to escape his eyes. "Fine," she said. "You think this is a joke? Then I hope you find this funny. I'm out." The brunette started to storm off but was stopped by his hand on her arm.

"Wait, wait." She still refused to look at him as he caught his breath.

"I'm sorry," he finally said. When she didn't respond, he let out a defeated sigh. Slowly, Finn started to get down on one knee.

He sighed and looked up at her. "Rachel Berry, will you marry me?"

Her brown eyes narrowed scrutinizingly. "Nope," she said after a minute.

He gaped. "What? What do you mean, ' _no_ '?"

"I want a proper proposal, right here, right now," she exclaimed defiantly, crossing her arms. Dropping his head in defeat, Finn took a deep breath before slowly lifting it. He plastered on a big smile.

"Rachel Barbara Berry."

"Yes?" The brunette asked with a satisfied smirk.

"Sweet, sweet, Rachel," he smooged. "You are beautiful, smart..." he gulped down some bile that arose in his throat before continuing, "and a whole lot of woman. Would you, please, take my hand in marriage?"

She smirked at him, seemingly impressed. "Yes, I will marry you," she finally said.

His happy expression snapped off immediately as he got off the ground. "About fucking time," he mumbled to himself.

She rose an eyebrow, cupping her hand over her ear. "I'm sorry, what was that? Because I know I didn't hear my fiancé use such foul language-"

"Nothing." Finn took her hand in his and carefully slid the ring on her finger.

"There." He dropped her hand and offered her his arm. "Happy?"

She beamed at him as she took it. "Very."

Once they entered the expensive restaurant. They were greeted by the hostess.

"Good evening. Are you two under a reservation?"

Finn spoke for them, "Sort of. We're here under the name Artie Abrams, the host of the show: "Lovers Goals". He told us to meet him here."

"Oh, yes." She scanned the book in front of her. "Rachel Berry and Finn Hudson?"

"That's us," Rachel replied, smiling.

"Alright, if you would just follow me..." As she led them further into the restaurant, Finn reached out and squeezed Rachel's hand.

"Ready?"

She took a deep breath. "As I'll ever be." Once they arrived at the table, they were immediately introduced by a man seated in a wheelchair.

"Hello." He rolled up to them before reaching out his hand for a shake. "You must be Finn and Rachel. I'm Artie Abrams."

"Nice to meet you," they responded in unison.

Impressed, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Hmm...Deep connection. Good. That's exactly what we need in this show. Strong contestants."

"See, babe, I told you they were good," his blonde wife said as she approached them with a smile.

She smiled at the bartender. "Finn! It's so awesome to see you again." When Finn reached out to hug the girl, he noticed something flash in his 'fiancé's' eye. When they pulled apart, is when she finally noticed the girl next to him and gave her an obvious once over, checking her out. "And you must be Rachel." Still smiling, she reached out and shook the brunette's hand.

"Yes. It's very nice to meet you."

Artie sighed happily and smiled. "Well, go on and take a seat. Socialize. Get to know the other contestants. I'll be over at the bar." As he and his wife left, the couple decided to take the a seat at the closest available table, which was across from a beautiful black-haired Latina and a slightly buff man.

The woman eyed them up and down. "You the Hudsons?" She asked.

Rachel spoke up this time, "Why yes! Well, we're not necessarily married yet, but we will be soon." Looking up at him, Rachel and Finn shared a loving smile.

She whistled low at their gazes. "Wow. And here I thought those two were sickening." She gestured towards the couple at the table behind them: a middle aged redheaded woman and a man with curly hair who seemed to be snuggled quite closely together.

At this, Finn and Rachel scooted a little closer to each other.

The girl decided to greet herself. "I'm Santana Lopez. The hottest bitch in town. And this," she reached over to whack the man on the head beside her, "is David Karofsky."

"Ow!" He looked up from his phone and scowled. "Jeez, Santana, can't you see I'm busy?"

"With what? Your fantasy football? We're at a fucking dinner and i'd appreciate it if you spent less time drooling at those footballers on your screen and more time focusing on me," she snarled.

From across from them, Finn and Rachel shared a look. Looks like their competition wouldn't be too bad after all.

Karofsky sighed as he placed the phone on the dinner table. That's when he noticed the couple. "What's up?" He gave a simple nod. They nodded hesitantly back.

"So," Rachel continued happily, folding her hands on the table. "How long have you two been together?"

"For about three months," the Latina replied before her boyfriend could open his mouth. "We met at a strip club."

"Yeah, she was killing it out there. I love it when I watch her do her thing." He smirked, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as she grinned proudly at him.

"Uh...cool." Finn said awkwardly.

"So how did you guys meet?"

Rachel smiled looked up at her fiancé. "You want tell them?"

Finn grinned lopsidedly at her. "No, baby, you tell them," he encouraged softly. She grinned and turned back to the couple.

One of the things they agreed on was the use of pet names. They figured it's what most couples do, and since they're 'supposed' to be a couple, it would only make sense. The brunette tried to focus on the fact that he actually remembered what she said and less on exactly 'how' he said it or how he looked at her. She smiled at the couple before her as she recited what she rehearsed.

"Well, Finn and I were both students at NYU," she lied. "I went to school for acting and he went to school for music. We never actually saw each other in school until our junior year, when we were placed in the same class together."

"Music history," Finn added.

"We ended up next to each other in class, which soon made us partners in lab assignments, and...I don't know, we just clicked," she stared into Finn's eyes for good measure as he nodded in agreement.

"Now, that's actually cute," Santana said as she smirked. She looked at her boyfriend. "Now how come our story isn't as good as theirs?"

"It's 'cause it wasn't," he grumbled. The Latina rolled her eyes before setting them on Brittany who was at the bar laughing with her husband, something Finn noticed quite often.

Suddenly, Finn got up. "I'm gonna go get a drink," he said. You need anything?" He asked Rachel.

"Some red wine would be nice. And hurry back so we can talk to the others before dinner starts." Nodding his head, he leaned down to kiss her cheek before making his way to the bar.

The Latina smirked at the way her eyes followed him. "So you guys are engaged, huh?"

Rachel detached her eyes from Finn before smiling at Santana. "Yeah. He proposed three months ago."

"Well," she gestured towards her hand as if it were obvious what she wanted, "let me see it!" Rachel grinned and showed her the ring.

"Damn..." she muttered. "Hudsons got taste." This made the brunette blush.

"Yeah, it was his mom's."

She widened her eyes as she continued to examine it. "Wow. He must really love you then."

She smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I guess."

Finn approached the table again and and Rachel stood. "Here you go, sweetie," he said as he handed her the glass of wine. Just as she grabbed it, she felt a hand subtly slap her ass.

Tending up, she smiled at him, her eyes sending a completely different message. "Thanks, honey," she cooed. "Want to go greet the others?"

He frowned. "But I thought we we gonna-" She yanked him the away from the table before he could even finish.

"Don't think I'm fine with what you just did. Slap my ass again, and I will castrate you. Got it?" She kept a smile on her face as she pretended to fix his tie. When he didn't answer she pinched the skin of his arm.

His face contorted in pain. "Yes! Ow, okay, I won't." Nodding, Rachel let go of him and adjusted his shirt.

"Good." When they get to the table, they watched as one of the couples bickered slightly.

"Kurt, come on-"

"No, Blaine. I specifically told you wear the red bow tie, not the magenta one with the wine glasses on it. We were supposed to match. Now we look like two goofy court jesters coming from some tiny village." Rolling his eyes, he looked at the couple and gave Kurt the 'crazy,' gesture when he saw he wasn't looking. Rachel giggled.

He stood up and smiled. "I'm sorry for annoying you guys with our arguing."

Kurt crossed his arms defiantly. "We couldn't be arguing if you followed simple directions," he muttered. He gave the couple a once over, almost as if he were judging their attire in his head. Finally, he stood up and shook their hands. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Kurt."

"And I'm Blaine," the man with the gelled hair greeted. Finn and Rachel greeted themselves in return.

"So how long have you guys been together?" Finn asked, gesturing between the two.

"We've been married for a year," Kurt responded proudly. "We're newlyweds."

The brunette found this adorable and she beamed. "Aww, that's so nice! Finn and I have been together for two years. We just got engaged two months ago."

Kurt peeked up. "Ooh, let me see the ring!" She eagerly offered her hand and he examined it closely. Blaine and Finn shared an amused look. Only they would be excited over a piece of jewelry.

"Hmmm..." he leaned closer to the ring. "It looks nice. Very vintage. Is it a family jewel or something?"

"Uh, yeah. It was my mom's," Finn responded. At that, both men looked up at him, sympathy adorned on their faces.

"Oh. We're sorry for your loss."

"Oh, no," he laughed, shaking his head. "My mom's not dead. It was just the old ring my dad gave her."

"Oh," they drawled out in unison.

"Well it was nice to meet you," the brunette said after a few minutes of talking. "We hope to see more of you again during the show."

Blaine smiled at them. "You too."

As they made their way to the other table Finn said, "I like them. They remind me of one of those old couples you see on those old sitcoms." Once they approached the table, they immediately caught the attention of the red-haired woman next to them who stopped wiping the condensation droplets off her glass and beamed at them.

" _Ooh_! Honey," she nudged her husband, who stopped his conversation with the waiter and looked at them.

"Hey." He stood up with his wife and reached out his hand for a shake. "I'm Will Schuester."

"And I'm Emma Schuester," she added.

"Nice to meet you," they answered in unison. The older couple widened their eyes, surprised.

"Well, it looks like we have some competition, honey," she responded. "Not that the others aren't..." she recovered quickly.

Will laughed. "Yeah, Emma and I have been married for ten years and we still can't speak at the same time." They all laughed.

"You've been married for ten years?" Rachel asked.

He nodded and wrapped his arm around his wife's shoulders, both of their eyes sparkling. "We met at a PTA meeting, remember that, Em?"

She nodded and smiled almost wistfully. "Of course I remember! I was setting up the table of fruit platters and little cheeses, and you were hanging glee club propaganda posters for the parents to see."

"Wait, you guys are teachers?" Finn asked.

"Well, I'm a guidance counsellor," she clarified. "But I do like to see myself as a teacher...in a more structured and personal kind of way."

"I'm a history teacher. I teach high school students in the morning and lead a high school glee club in the afternoon," the older man said.

If Rachel hadn't been astonished before, she definitely had now. "You teach a glee club?! I was in a glee club in high school!"

This interested Will. "Oh, really? What high school did you go to?"

"McKinley high. We weren't that good, though." He nodded. Suddenly a clanging of what sounded like glass stopped them all from their conversations. They watched as Artie cleared his throat before opening his mouth.

"I'm glad to see everyone socializing and getting to know each other. Dinner will be served soon, so please return back to your seats so we can get started with this meeting." Once everyone was seated, he continued, "Now, I know we're already so close to filming day of the show, but I just wanted to highlight a few rules first that was on the contract." Taking out the thick packet, he flipped to the right page.

"The production company is not responsible for any accidents or injuries pertaining to the production of this game show. They are also not responsible for the mental or physical well being of the contestants before or after production."

From across from them, Santana snickered. "Guess they're out of luck," she said, pointing a thumb towards Emma who was cleaning her cutlery with Clorox wipes.

"If you guys didn't know this already, you must be 18 or older in order to compete, yada, yada, yada..." He continued to flipped through the pages until he found something he liked. "Oh! This is a good one. Anyone competing in this completion that is not involved in a relationship will be disqualified, fined twenty-five thousand dollars each and arrested."

The water Finn and Rachel were sipping expelled from their mouths and sprayed on each other as they gaped at the director, mouths agape.

" Those contestants that are from another country will be deported immediately following the filming of the show," he continued.

"Looks like you're going home, Lopez," Karofsky teased, nudging her. She rolled her eyes playfully but laughed.

Rachel and Finn continued staring straight, their faces blank.

 _Twenty-five grand. Arrested._ All if they get caught _._

"Alright then, so that's basically all of the rules you guys need to know," the four-eyed man said after a moment. "From this moment on, all of these laws with be valid, so if anyone of you have something to say, please do now or forever hold your piece." Silence filled the corner of the restaurant and Finn and Rachel shared a panicked look, before gulping.

"Okay, then." Artie smiled. "On behalf of Abram productions, I would like to thank you for joining me on this journey. I look forward to working with you and I will see you at the Palvari mansion at nine am sharp tomorrow for interviews." With that he rolled off to converse with the production crew.

"Well, there goes my sleep," David grudgingly said while crossing his arms.

His girlfriend rolled her eyes. "Oh, please, taking three hours off of your thirteen hour sleep schedule isn't the end of the world."

"It is of you don't quit talking in your sleep," he huffed.

She gasped. "I do not talk in my sleep!"

"Yes you do!" As they continued to criticize their sleep schedules, Finn and Rachel tried to eat their food, their appetites practically shot with nervousness. They didn't even make it to dessert before they we announcing their departure.

Finn feigned a yawn as they stood. "We're gonna hit the hay." Santana and David stopped bickering to look at them.

"Okay, man. See you later." Finn and Rachel shared a handshake between the two before saying goodbye to everyone else and practically sprinting out of the place. Once the got to Finn's car, they simply stood and stared at each other with wide eyes.

Finally, " _Twenty five_ _thousand_ _dollars_?!" The bartender said hysterically.

"Who cares about the money, Finn! We could go to _jail_!" She said.

"Oh my _god_." Finn out is face in his hands as he started pacing.

"Why didn't you tell me the rules before?!" She yelled.

"I-I don't know, I wasn't thinking," he answered, still pacing. "I didn't think it would be that extreme."

"Of course it would be extreme, Finn! It's a freaking game show!" The reality of the situation finally hit him and Finn's eyes widened even more, his hands slowly sliding off his face.

"I fucked up..." he muttered while staring the the ground. His breath came out in pants as he started hyperventilating. "Oh, I fucked up so bad." He could feel himself start to feel dizzy as the realization of what they were about to do still continued to hit him.

Rachel seemed to calm down and noticed his panicked stature. "Finn."

"I fucked up...we're dead..."

"Finn."

He threw his head back. "Oh, _god_ , we're fucking _dead_!" He cried.

"Finn!"

" _What_!" A slap on his face cut him short and he stared wide eyed at an exasperated Rachel Berry.

 _"What the hell?!"_

"Snap out of it," she responded simply. "It's too late. We're in this game show and there's nothing we can do about it." Climbing on her tippy-toes, she placed his face between her hands. "All we can do now is be the best couple we can be. I we want to win, we have mop the floor with the competition. And I will not be dragged into this with you only to be second best, so you better bring your A-game on. Got it?" When he didn't respond, she gripped his face tighter. " _Got_ _it_?!"

"Yes ma'am," he muttered weakly. Letting out a relieved sigh, she backed away from him. "Good." An awkward moment of silence passed them before Finn spoke.

"Hey, you want to get some food?"

"Oh, please," she moaned, throwing her head back. Chucking, Finn opened the door for her before hoping in after her. They shared a grin.

He rose and eyebrow at her. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asked.

"Ihop, here we come!" She cheered as they pulled out of the parking lot.

* * *

 **There's the second chapter, guys! It took a while for me to do it because I wanted to make sure it sounded valid and correct. I don't know much about the filming process of game shows so I went with what I had.**

 **For those of you who follow "The Man Who Cant Be Moved", there will be an update posted later this week. See you next time!**

 **~Vikki3775**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! Sorry that it's been such a long time since i've posted an update. I hope this makes up for it. Enjoy!**

 **~Vikki3775**

* * *

To say that Monday was a busy day was an understatement. Cameramen were scattered around the lot as they captured shots of the overall architecture of the Palvari mansion. Makeup artists were busy dressing the host while the producers walked around and made sure things were going along smoothly. Upon seeing the limos pull in, Artie straightened up in his wheelchair and rolled quickly over to the group of cameramen in the house's entrance.

He exhaled a breath. "Okay, guys. This is it. I want shots taken of all the contestants as soon as they place a foot on the ground. This is the episode that will determine if we remain on air or not. Let's go people, let's go!" He clapped his hands excitedly as the camera crew rushed out of the house towards the front yard.

Meanwhile, Finn and Rachel sat anxiously in their limo as it pulled up to the estate.

"Is it just me, or does this place look fucking huge," Finn said, gazing out the window in awe. When he didn't get a response, he looked at Rachel; who was breathing rather heavily in her seat.

His eyes softened on her. "Rach-"

"Is it just me, or does it seem really hot in here?" She said frantically, fanning herself.

His eyes shifted awkwardly. "Well, we are in California, so-"

Her head snapped towards him. "How are we going to do this, Finn? If-If we get caugh-"

"Shhhh..." He quickly covered her mouth with his hands and took a glance at the the limo driver, sighing in relief when he caught him talking with someone on his walkie-talkie thingy.

Finn spoke quieter this time, "We'll be fine, okay? Remember what you told me? We've come way too far to give up now. I mean, look at me," he took his hands off of her mouth and motioned towards his outfit, which consisted of a bedazzled baby blue t-shirt and jeans, "you and I both know I wouldn't wear this just for anything."

"Maybe for a bet," she said giggling. He rolled his eyes playfully at her.

"Yeah, yeah, a bet."

"Uh, Mr. Hudson?" They turned around and looked at the chauffeur. "We just arrived at the Palvari mansion," he said meekly.

Finn grinned at him. "Thanks. And we're cool, man. You don't have to address me by my last name."

He chuckled. "Alright, Finn."

When Finn turned back towards the brunette, he watched amusedly as she frowned, her hands balled into fists as she stared straight.

She nodded firmly. "Let's do this." Opening the door, they made their way out of the vehicle. As soon as Finn's feet hit the ground, cameras from every angle were in his vision. He swallowed hard but smiled as he stepped further on the lot.

"Wow..." he muttered, taking a full glance of the house. If this house is as beautiful inside as it is outside, he's gonna have a problem leaving. Remembering Rachel, he turned around and offered a hand to help her out.

"Wow," she said as she viewed the place herself.

"That's exactly what I said, babe." His eyes shifted awkwardly towards a specific cameraman who had his camera focused solely on his shirt.

"Finn, Ms. Berry." They turned around and watched the limo driver struggle with their bags.

"Oh!" Immediately, Rachel dashed towards the trunk to help him.

"Matt, you didn't have to help us," Rachel said, grabbing one of her many pink luggage cases. Oh, he forgot to mention that their chauffeur's name is Matt. He's a pretty cool guy,in Finn's opinion.

Matt shrugged and grinned. "It's okay, Rachel. It's kind of what I do." The brunette laughed at this and threw her head back, her smile beaming. Something from the pit of his gut ignited inside of Finn and he found himself rushing towards the brunette.

"Baby, I've got this." Taken aback, she looked up at him in surprise before getting back into character.

"Are you sure?"

He smiled. "Yeah, I'll be right behind you." Grinning, she reached up to kiss his cheek and left. As Matt was reaching inside to grab his things, Finn stopped him.

"I got it," was his rather sharp reply as he snatched it from the now confused guy's hands. As he lugged the rest of the bags with him, he saw the limo behind him stop, the cameramen already racing towards it.

"Gosh, did you have to eat a hoagie before we got here? It's nine in the morning!" Santana grumbled as she stepped out of the car.

"You weren't complaining about it when you were digging into that breakfast burrito from McDonalds a minute ago," Karofsky bit back. The Latina scoffed before moving towards the trunk.

Chuckling, Finn shook his head before making his way in. The more steps he took into the house the more he was impressed. A gigantic chandelier hanging from the ceiling caught his eye immediately, along with two perfectly polished marble staircases that had to hold at least thirty steps each. He saw Rachel waiting patiently towards him and he approached her, mindful of a cameraman following them.

"They told us to come to the living room," she said, taking one of her bags from him. After about two minutes of walking they arrived at the very spacious living room where the rest of the contestants sat. Immediately, they were greeted by Brittany's smiling face.

"Hello! Welcome to the Palvari mansion! Just find an open seat and we'll get started as soon as the last couple gets here." Obliging, Finn and Rachel sat down on one of the love seats. A moment later they heard the loud voices of Santana and Karofsky echo through the room as they struggled with their bags.

Santana stopped abruptly at the sight of all of the contestants sitting and sighed. "Great. We're the last ones here. All because you couldn't follow simple directions."

Karofsky shrugged simply at her glare. "What? I thought they said to meet in the dining room. Sue me."

"Welcome, guys!" At the blond's greeting, Rachel could see Santana immediately perk up. "If you could just take a seat we can get started." Bickering slightly as they moved, the couple sat down at the last available seat. Brittany brought her hands together.

"Okay! Now that we are all settled, we can get started with assigning the rooms! Each room is assigned based on each couple's relationship status. Let's get started!" Picking up a card with a key attached, Brittany opened it.

"Okay, our first couple is...Will and Emma!" Smiling excitedly, the couple stood up and approached the host.

"Okay, so your room is on the second floor and it is called, "#MilestoneMarriage."

The redhead clapped eagerly. "Ooh, trendy!" She said. Taking the keys, the middle aged couple left the room.

Picking up another card, the host opened it. "Next up...Kurt and Blaine!" When they got to her, she handed them the keys and said, "Your suite is called, "#Newlyweds," because we all know you're the couple who just got together."

"If together you mean married, then yes, yes we did!" Kurt said awkwardly, smiling. As they left to go find their room, the blonde opened the next card.

"Next up...Santana and Karofsky!" She smiled wider as the black haired girl got closer to her.

"Since your relationship is still new and fresh, your room is called, "#NewLovers. I know it's not as catchy or fun as the others, but-"

"It's fine, Britt." Both girls shared a smile that lasted way longer than normal before snapping out of it. As Karofsky moved to grab the keys, his arm got smacked.

"No mi gusta, you're going to carry our luggage. I've got the keys," Santana declared.

The physically buff man groaned and threw his head back before picking up their bags. "God, you're gonna be the death of me Satan."

As they walked out of the room, Brittany watched them for a moment before setting her eyes on the last couple.

"Oh! I almost forgot you guys!" Smirking, Finn and Rachel shared a look before standing up.

"Your room is called, "#JustEngaged," because you guys just got engaged, duh!" She handed them the keys. "Here you go! If you have any problems let me know and I'll help you." Smiling in thanks, Finn and Rachel turned around and walked out the room.

"You think the room is gonna have a flat-screen?" Finn asked as they climbed the steps.

The brunette shrugged. "Maybe. Based on how grandiose this estate is, I wouldn't be surprised." He frowned at her.

"So...that's a yes?" Laughing, Rachel gently touched his arm

"Yes, Finn. That's a yes."

* * *

Nothing but the sound of bags landing on the floor could be heard as Finn and Rachel stood at the doorway of their room, mouths agape.

Their room was a hotel suite-no, a _mini palace_. The giant's room in New York had to be at least a third of the room he was staring at, the heart shaped king-size bed taking up a quarter of it. Across from the bed held a flat screen 90 inch tv that hung from the tan colored wall. One huge walk-in closet was at the television's left, the master bathroom at the right. Marble floors, double sinks, a toilet, a large mirror, and a shower and bathtub made for two were included in the restroom. Finn was awestruck. Never had he felt more excited to take a shit before.

"This has got to be a palace..." Finn muttered, taking in the space. Both adults picked up their bags and walked slowly into the room, afraid that one step would ruin the whole thing.

Rachel beamed. "Not a palace, my dream room!" She walked to the middle of the room and spun in circles while Finn closed the door. Once he turned around and walked back into the room, he noticed a large mirror on the ceiling.

 _Right above their bed._

"No fucking way..." He must've stared exasperatedly at the thing for awhile because the brunette noticed and walked over to him.

She sighed happily, saying, "Finn, isn't this place amazing?" Her happy expression faltered and turned into one of concern. "What's wrong?"

"Th-The room..." was his hushed response. "It's too much."

She nose crinkled at this. "N-No it's not. This room is amazing."

"Rachel, look." Grabbing her shoulders, he moved her closer towards the bed. He pointed at the mirror. "You see that? What is that?"

"A mirror," she said simply, frowning.

"And why would there be a mirror on the ceiling _right_ above our bed?"

She seemed to get more confused. "I-I don't know-"

"God, Rachel, for _sex_! It's a _sex mirror_! The huge bathtub? The shower? They actually expect us to do it in here!" He watched as her eyes grew wide. "This room looks like a _Fifty Shades of Grey_ set!" Looking around at his surroundings once more, it did in fact look like a sex room. "I mean yeah, I probably would have liked this if it were in my room at home, but not the one i'll be sharing with you! It's...weird," he explained, shuddering.

Rachel covered her mouth to hide her smile. "Finn, it's just a mirror. We're not even going to have sex-"

"So?" He said exasperatedly, his eyes bugged out.

She nodded slowly, drawling, "So,... it's not a big deal. You're going to be asleep anyways, so why would it matter if the mirror is there or not? We're not even going to be taking a bath together."

At this, he suddenly smirked, cupping a hand over his ear. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that for me?Because I doubt you'll be saying the same words once this thing is over."

The brunette groaned. "Gosh, you're so annoying!" As she stormed away, Finn grinned and jumped on the bed, landing on his back.

He watched as she started to open her suitcase. "You're just saying that because you know it's true," he said cockily.

Halting her movements, she turned around and crossed her arms. "You know, instead of laying down like a couch potato and making up stories about us having intercourse, why don't you start unpacking your things? We only have a few hours to get settled before we have to be downstairs for lunch and I'd like to get ready before we go." She turned around and continued packing before stopping. "And no, I am not helping you," she said, her back still facing him. Of course this caused the bartender's eyes to rest on her ass. _Cause I'm a dude,_ he thought. It wasn't until she pulled something familiar out of her suitcase that he actually got off the bed.

He started chuckling as he walked up to her. "Rachel." As he got closer to her, he saw the brunette's big brown eyes start to swirl with confusion.

"What?"

He pointed towards the object in her hand. "Seriously?" His laugh got louder as he stared at the very worn-out, dirty looking stuffed dog in her hand. "It's been twenty years and you _still_ haven't gotten rid of that thing?"

"No, why would I?" She seemed offended by this remark and started to gently pet the dog as if it were real. "Quinn gave this to me when I was five. It's important to me." Her expression shifted immediately and she smirked, crossing her arms.

"You've got a lot of nerve criticizing my memorabilia, Hudson."

He rose an eyebrow, still laughing. "Oh really? Why, midget?"

"Because I _know_ you still have your baby blanket." The smile Finn once had snapped off and he stopped laughing.

"My McGee-Gee has nothing to do with this," he said seriously.

"It does if we're talking about Blueberry." She shook her bear in his face for emphasis. He swatted it away.

"Fine," he relented, his eyes narrowed. "You win. I won't make fun of your weird obsession with stuffed bears and you won't laugh at me whenever I take out my blanket. Got it?"

She nodded. "Got it." Sighing, he walked to his suitcase and started to unpack.

Silence filled the area for a moment until Finn grinned. "Nice penguin pajamas, by the way."

"Oh my god, Finn, _stop!_ "

* * *

As if Finn couldn't get any more amazed, he did when they arrived downstairs for lunch/dinner.

The room was exquisite, (at least that's what Rachel said) surrounded by decorations that had to cost a fortune, a big dining room table square in the middle.

A table filled to the brim with delicious looking appetizers.

"Ooo, wings!" Finn exclaimed as he sat down. He was already making himself a plate when a gentle hand on his arm stopped him.

"Finn, seriously?" She said with a disappointed sigh.

"What?" He said, his mouth full.

She looked around cautiously, in fear of seeing cameramen, before focusing on him. "Do you have to eat so boisterously? What happened to staying in character?"

Finn swallowed and rolled his eyes. "Rachel, I'm a dude. Regardless of being in character or not, I'm not gonna stop eating the way that I do. We can't look like robots." She rolled her eyes as he wiped his hands with a napkin. That's when she noticed a smudge of sauce at the corner of his lips.

Picking up her napkin and wetting it with her tongue, she moved it towards him. "Come here."

Instantly he smacked her hand away. "What? No! I don't want your midget germs on my face!" At the corner of her eye, Rachel noticed one of the cameramen slowly walking towards them.

"Cameraman, three o'clock," she whispered harshly. Immediately he jumped into character and sat still as she started to clean up his mouth. Things were fine, and the cameramen were able to catch a believable shot of her gently tending to her fiance's face.

That is, until she finished, and the brunette found herself stopping completely in her tracks.

They were seated so close to each other that the brunette could make out everything, from the freckles on his face (twenty), to the color of his eyes (somewhat a chestnut color). You'd think that seeing the same person for twenty years would mean that you know every feature on their face, but it isn't until you're actually close to them, _kissing distance_ from them that you actually realize these things. She shook those thoughts away and smiled at him.

"There," she finished up and placed the napkin back on the table. "Good as new." The corner of his mouth lifted in a lopsided grin as he gazed at her softly. She swallowed hard, her cheeks getting warm. Was it getting hot in here? She all of a sudden felt like she was in a sauna.

A clearing of the throat caught everyone's attention as Brittany smiled from her seat at the end of the table. "Alright everyone. I hope you all are enjoying the appetizers-"

"Wait, these are the appetizers?" Karofsky interrupted with a full mouth. His girlfriend rolled her eyes from beside him.

The blond smiled and nodded. "Yes, and the entrees will be right out, so take some time to enjoy yourselves, and get to know each other!" As she left to go somewhere, all four couples sat there silently, cameras surrounding them.

Santana raised a hand. "Okay, can I start by saying that this dinner is fucking stupid? Can't we just have takeout instead?" From across from her, Finn smirked. He liked how brutally honest she was.

"Well, I think it's nice," Rachel responded. "It's nice that they set this up for all up for us."

"And it's free, so close your mouth and eat the food," Karofsky snapped at his girlfriend.

She whacked him in the back of the head and rolled her eyes. "I can't eat the food if my mouth is closed, dumbass."

"How are you enjoying the food, Em?" Will asked as he looked at his wife.

She smiled as she chewed on a piece of fruit. "It's very good! At first I was a little concerned with the fruit and how clean it was, but the chefs told me that they hand washed each one!"

By the time dinner was served, everyone was trying to get to know each other.

"Yeah, I was on the football team in high school. I was linebacker." Karofsky gloated with a proud smirk.

Finn's eyes widened at this and he grinned. "That's cool, man. I played football too. And basketball."

"Oh, really? What position?

"Quarterback." At this, the buff man nodded silently. Finn could've sworn he saw a twinge of jealousy swirl in his eyes, but he pushed the thought away and sipped on some of his beer.

Blaine smiled and said, "I love football. I mean, I never played it at my highschool, but I always attended the games."

At this, his husband shook his head as he cut his food. "I don't know how you three like that sport. It's just so... _violent_ and.. _brutal_. Plus, you don't even get to choose the design of your uniforms."

"I know, right?" Rachel agreed, chewing her food leisurely. "My friends would always try to get me to come to one of our school's games but I just couldn't sit there and watch them pummel each other."

Kurt nodded quickly, his blue eyes set on her. "Exactly! If I wanted to watch people hurt each other for a personal gain, i'd watch the the fighting scene in _West Side Story_."

She gasped. "Oh, I love that musical!"

"Okay, this got gay real fast." Karofsky snickered. Santana scoffed and whacked the back of his head.

"Ow!"

"Ah, the classics," Will said with a smile. "I remember seeing the show when it first came out. I was so amazed by everything; the costumes, choreography, and the actors-gosh, they were so talented!" From next to him, Finn heard Rachel exhale a longing sigh. He knew how passionate she was about Broadway; about being onstage. It's been an everlasting battle to get a role " _on the big stage"_. He's heard her voice a few times in his lifetime and he hates to admit it, but she does have a very pretty voice. He chuckled to himself. Who would've thought that such a beautiful sound could come from such a short girl.

Once everyone ate their meals, it was time for everyone to separate for a _couple's interview_. He watched boringly as each couple left to be interviewed, and it wasn't until Rachel gently shook his shoulders that he realised he fell asleep waiting for his turn.

"Finn," she said softly. "We're up."

He nodded quickly and stood with her as the producers behind the camera lead them to the interviewing room. Once they arrived, they were immediately taken aback by their surroundings. The room's design was completely different than the rest of the mansion. In Finn's opinion, it looked like a five year old's fantasy playroom. The bright sky blue and yellow paint on the walls were almost blinding to look at, and the room was filled with balloons, stuffed animals and glitter; _so much glitter_ that the bartender felt like he could catch glitter poisoning with the amount of the decoration he saw. One very comfortable looking loveseat sat right across from a pink beanbag, in which Brittany was sitting on, twirling her blonde locks with her finger as she waited on them patiently. He felt Rachel grab his hand and yank him towards the chair where he took a seat and sighed in contentment. _Yep, this sofa is comfortable as fuck._

Brittany smiled kindly. "Hey guys! How was dinner?"

Rachel beamed and nodded. "It was great! The vegan lasagna I had was absolutely delicious." Finn didn't know what else to do so he just nodded. That's when he noticed about eight cameramen in the corner of the room turning on their cameras. How many people could you possibly need for _one_ silly interview?

Brittany started to speak. "So, if you haven't noticed, this room will be used for weekly interviews. I call it, "Fondue for two!"

Rachel frowned but smiled. "Why "fondue for two"? She asked.

She giggled and rolled her eyes. "Because we're gonna have fondue, duh!" With that, two boiling fondue pots filled with chocolate and cheese were placed before them on a coffee table, along with a platter filled with fruit and cold-cuts.

"I figured you guys would want to eat something while we delve into some gossip."

Finn smiled at this. "Hey, thanks!" He reached for a toothpick and scooped up some roast beef and covered it in cheese immediately. He subtly smirked as the brunette next to him shifted uncomfortably in her seat at his actions.

"Okay! On with the questions…" Brittany placed her blue rimmed glasses on her face and started to examine the paper in front of her. "So, everyone wants to know the significance of those t-shirts They seem really unique."

At this the brunette beamed and leaned further out of her seat. "Well, Finn and I wanted to express our personality as a couple. I came up with the idea of matching shirts and Finn just jumped at the idea." Inside, Finn scoffed. _Yeah, more like jumped in fear._

"Now, I know what you're thinking, _Rachel Berry made them? It looks like a professional did it_ -"

"It wasn't that hard to find out it was handmade, honey." The smile Rachel once had slid off her face, and he had to bite his lip to prevent himself from laughing.

The blonde then focused her attention on him. "So Finn, you've been awfully quiet for awhile. What's your secret?"

Finn's heart started beating erratically in his chest and he swallowed hard. "Wh-What secret?" He stuttered.

"Some little birdy told me that you aren't six foot five, but that you're actually six foot three."

He nodded and chuckled. "Yes, I am six foot three."

"So let's hear your story," she said suddenly, looking at both of them. "The world wants to know what makes you two special. What can you two bring to the competition?"

Rachel looked up at him, her big brown eyes catching him off guard for a second. "You want to tell them, honey?"

Inside, he scoffed. _He knows what she's trying to do and no way is he going to do this alone._ "Why don't we both tell them?" He offered, ginning lopsidedly at her. They then gave a quick summary of their fake relationship, taking turns during the duration of ten minutes.

Rachel answered the last question, "We just want to prove that we know each other really well." She said, as she turned to look up at him. "That... I don't know...we have an eternal kind of relationship." Something in her eyes and the way she said it stirred something inside of him and he found himself kissing her forehead before turning back towards the host, his cheeks burning slightly.

A somewhat comfortable silence filled the room, as Brittany smiled. "Aww! You guys are so cute! Well, that's it for the interview. Thank you joining me in _Fondue for Two_ and i'll see you again on friday."

* * *

Finn and Rachel were both standing in front of their large mirror brushing their teeth for the night when Finn suddenly stopped and turned towards her.

"Hey, did you notice something about Santana? I keep catching her looking at Brittany." Nodding eagerly, the brunette bended over the sink to spit before responding to him.

"I did!" She said. " You think they're good friends or something?"

At this, Finn scoffed. "Rachel, are you kidding me? Santana isn't giving her the " _I'm a very close friend of yours,"_ look. She's giving her the " _I want to fuck you on the table right now,"_ look. Trust me, I know what that looks like."

She rose an eyebrow and smirked at him as she started to tie her hair up in a bun. "Oh _really_? And what do you know about " _fuck me"_ eyes, huh? You have that much girls just begging for you to take them? I doubt it." She turned around and walked haughtily out of the bathroom, Finn following her.

"Oh, and what about you, Ms. " _I'm only having sex until I get my first Tony"_? How's that working out for you?"

She turned around and crossed her arms defensively, blush adorned on her cheeks.

"I've managed to...change my opinion lately," she said reluctantly.

Finn's eyes widened at this and he grinned excitedly. "Ooh, midgets done the dirty?! With who?"

A moment of silence passed and the brunette looked at the ground bashfully.

"Nobody," was her meek reply.

This only made him laugh. "Rachel, you already told me you did the dirty. Just tell me who you did it with-"

"It was Brody, okay?" She relented softly. A moment of silence passed between them until Finn burst out laughing. Groaning, she turned back around and made her way to the bed.

"Rachel, that dude was an asshole! He had chicks at his place every week-"

"And you don't think I know that?" She snapped with a frown, as she sat on the bed. She looked down at her lap, her shoulders slumped dejectedly as she whispered, "If I could take it back, I would." The smile slid off Finn's face and he sighed before taking a seat next to her.

"I'm sorry," he finally said after a moment. "But you _do_ know we warned you about him, right?" She chuckled softly at this and nodded.

"Yeah, I know. And you've never let me forget about it either."

He shrugged. "Well, in my defense, I never liked the guy. He was too... _plastic_ for me." Rachel giggled and shook her head as she got settled under the covers. Finn halted in his spot and he stared at her.

"Uh, what are you doing?"

She frowned at him, confused. "Getting settled in bed? We have an early day tomorrow." He watched exasperatedly as she continued to get herself situated under the covers, laying her small head on one of the plush pillows.

He stood up abruptly. "Did you think that maybe _I_ wanted to sleep on the bed?"

She sighed and ran a hand over her face tiredly. "Finn, can we not do this now? It's late-"

"Rachel, i'm not sleeping on that couch." He gestured towards the piece of furniture at the corner of the room. "I'm like, twice it's size. Why can't you sleep there? It's the perfect size for midgets-"

"What happened to letting the lady take the bed?"

"Well, you're not a lady."

Her mouth set in a straight line as she stared at him for a moment. "Finn, i'm not moving from my spot. You're acting like you haven't shared a bed with me before, when you _know_ we have. You either suffer like a big baby on your little makeshift couch over there, or share a bed with me for the night. What will it be?" She was back at it again with crossing her arms, and her brown orbs showed tiredness and frustration; two things Finn knew didn't go good together.

"Fine," he relented, sliding in next to her. "But don't hog the covers. You do it all the time and it's annoying."

"I won't," she said, reaching over to turn off the light. Once the darkness hit them, Finn and Rachel finally felt at ease.

"Goodnight, Finn."

"Goodnight, midget." Nothing but the sounds of their soft breathing filled the room.

"THHHPPBBB!"

Rachel stiffened under the covers at the sound. Suddenly, a gigantic wave of an odor hit her nose and she gasped.

"Finn Hudson!"

* * *

 **There you go, guys! This is honestly** _**so**_ **overdue, but i've been really busy with finals and a bunch of other crap that I haven't had a chance to update lately. Just give me two weeks and these update will be like wildfire!**

 **Love,**

 **~Vikki3775**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hope you guys enjoy!**

 **~Vikki3775**

* * *

The next morning, Finn and Rachel were in their room getting ready for the activities for the day-well, Rachel was getting ready. Finn was too busy listening to the super exasperated voice of his best friend as it careened into his ear through his cell phone.

He started fiddling with the bed's sheets as he sighed. "Puck-"

"No, don't get all sighy with me, idiot," he snapped. "Just tell me why you and Berry thought it was a good idea to join some ridiculous game show just _two_ months before my wedding; the wedding that _you_ guys are in charge of?"

Finn rolled his eyes. "Dude, you're totally acting like a bridezilla here. It's only two months."

"Do you realize how suspicious Quinn's been? I don't think you know what happens when she starts questioning things."

Finn rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know-"

 _"No sex,"_ they answered in unison.

"Just tell me what's going on," he demanded.

Exhaling a breath, Finn glanced around the room before pressing his phone closer to his ear. "Look,... Rachel and I aren't doing this competition for for just anything. The prize is four hundred grand. Rachel and I agreed to split it once this thing is over. All we have to do is pretend to be a convincing couple for two months while playing these corny games and we'll get the cash."

"And what happens if you aren't a convincing couple?" Closing his eyes, Finn swallowed hard and shook his head. He doesn't even want to think about that.

"Look, we're gonna win. Don't worry about it," he said rather hastily.

"I still think there's something else you're not telling me, man," he heard him say. "You may be good with Berry now, but there's no way in hell you can last anymore than a week with her. I know you, and you don't enter some lovey-dovey competition just for the money."

"What?" His eyes widened and he looked around the room cautiously as if the brunette could hear the conversation. "Dude, if you're implying that I like Rachel-"

"I'm not saying that you do," he interrupted. "I'm just wondering what else you could be doing this for. Are you trying to bang her? Because if you are, then i'm gonna have to kick your ass." As Puck was speaking, Finn couldn't help but let his eyes wander towards the brunette, who seemed to be wrapped in a white towel, having just stepped out of the shower. The steam circling around her kept him entrapped, his eyes following a trail of water as it slowly slid down the cleavage of her chest. He gulped hard.

"Uh, hello?"

"Huh, what?" He turned his head from her immediately and shook his head.

"Dude, you totally blanked out on me for a second."

He frowned and closed his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, sorry man. I was...distracted." At this, he caught the brunette look at him in confusion and he pointed at the phone, mouthing, _"Puck"._

"Yo, I can't wait to tell Mama Hudson-"

"Wait, what?!" His eyes widened. 'No, no, no, no, dude, you _can't_ tell her. She'd totally freak out."

"Why shouldn't I? She'll find out eventually when she turns on that old fifty-niner in her house."

He sighed and ran a hand over his face as he said, "Just...don't tell her, okay? I'll tell her when I get the chance. And be easy telling the news to Quinn, please? I-I don't want her to worry about it."

Puck snickered. "Trust me, Hud, I think I know who I proposed to. There's no way in hell she's letting this go."

Inside, Finn groaned. Great. Just another thing to worry about. "Alright, man, talk to you later," he said.

"See ya, dude." Placing the phone down, he looked at the bathroom door where Rachel was, only to find it closed.

Standing up, he sighed and put his hands in his dress pant pockets before leaning against the wall next to the bathroom door. After a minute of just standing there, he knocked.

"Rachel, could you hurry up? I've still got to do my hair and we've got to be downstairs in two…" His sentence drifted off when the door suddenly opened and Rachel walked into the room, wearing a beautiful flowy red dress with matching colored heels, her hair curled loosely. He blinked at her, his mouth slightly opened.

She grinned up at him. "Ready." After a moment of just watching him stare at her, she snapped her fingers in his face to get his attention.

"Uh, Finn?" She snapped again. "Hello?"

Finn blinked for a moment before nodding tensely, his lips in a straight line as he said, "Let's go." And with that, he walked briskly out of the room, leaving the brunette very confused. Frowning at his retreating figure, she pickEd something up off of the floor before chasing after him.

"Finn, you forgot your shoes!"

* * *

Brittany sighed happily as she sat down at the dining room table. "Well, I hope you are all enjoying your breakfast," she said. "Once we finish eating we will then move on to the first game of the competition."

From his seat, Kurt rose his petite hand. "Um, may I ask what it is we're doing exactly?"

"During this competition, you and your significant other will challenged mentally, physically and emotionally," she revealed. "Today is the mental part of the competition. Each of you will be pulled aside and asked a few questions about yourself that you will answer. After that, we will all meet in the ballroom, where your significant other will answer the exact same questions. Whoever has the most questions correct wins the round," she exclaimed smoothly.

"Well, what happens if you have the least correct?" Emma asked.

The girl found this funny and giggled. "Let's just hope that doesn't happen, okay?" The table got silent after that, and the once excited aura around the table turned into one of panic and fear.

Oblivious, the blonde beamed. "Okay! First person up,...Blaine!" Finn watched as Blaine's face turned completely pale, before slowly getting up and following her out of the room.

After everyone answered their questions, it was time for them to head towards the ballroom. He figures that's why they wanted them to dress up. He was searching his thoughts for every possible thing he knows about Rachel when a soft hand grabbing his caught his attention.

He caught the brunette's gaze immediately and she smiled understandingly at him, almost as if she knew what he was thinking.

"You'll do fine, Finn," she said quietly, yet soothingly as they entered the ballroom. She squeezed his hand softly and smiled. "I believe in you."

He grinned lopsidedly at her and nodded. It's too bad his thoughts aren't the same.

The ballroom was quite big. It sort of reminded him of the room in that movie Beauty and the Beast. They were walking on a large marble floor, cleaned to perfection with a grand chandelier that had to be at least three times the size of the one he saw in the entryway of the mansion on the ceiling. Four love seats were placed in a horizontal line, facing a burgundy podium where Brittany stood, examining some index cards. Behind each each couch held some fort of partition, while a large flat screen on wheels stood right next to the podium. Finn didn't know what the electronic device would be used for but he figured it would be revealed later on in the competition. He felt Rachel gently tug one of his arms towards one of the love seats and they sat down.

He watched as Karofsky and Santana came in, their expressions awe-filled.

"Yo, what the fuck…." the buff man muttered, craning his neck to look at the architecture of the ceilings. As soon as they were seated, Finn could see the cameramen come closer to them, each camera focused on a couple.

"Hello guys, and welcome to the ballroom!" Brittany smiled. "For this segment we will be playing a game called, "#TheMoreYouKnow". Each of you will be separated with your significant other and one of you will have to answer a set of questions about the other." She gestured towards the television. "Then, this screen will reveal what your partners had to say, and we'll get to see which couple knows the most about each other. The couple with the highest score, wins!"

Finn nodded and frowned determinedly. I got this.

"First one up,... _Finchel_!" She clapped eagerly and At this, Finn's heart immediately dropped in his chest. They're gonna lose. It's over.

"Rachel, can you please move behind that partition?" She asked, pointing to the purple curtain behind them. The petite brunette smiled easily and obeyed as Brittany got her cards together.

Her blue eyes set on him and she smiled. "Okay, Finn, are you ready?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"Okay." She started shuffling some cards as she said, "I'm going to start easy and gradually ask harder questions each round." She finally chose a card and set her eyes on him. "Okay, question one: What is Rachel's favorite color?"

Relaxing in his seat, Finn grinned. "Oh, that's easy. Pink." If he had a nickel for every time he heard her mention or wear something pink, he'd probably own a mansion similar to this one. It's cute when she does it, though, he thought. Almost immediately, he pushed the thought away.

"Let's see what she has to say." Everyone turned their attention to the television screen, as it revealed his so-called "fiance".

 _"Hi,"_ she greeted with a smile, waving. _"I would say, out of all of the colors on the color wheel, my favorite color would be pink."_ When the screen turned off, Brittany turned back around and smiled.

"Correct! That gives you and Rachel ten points, good job! Rachel, you can come from behind the partition now." With that, Rachel returned back to to her seat, beaming and she squeezed his arm happily.

"Next, is Santana! Karofsky, can you stand behind that partition please?" she asked, not breaking her gaze from the grinning Latina.

He shrugged and got up. "Sure, whatever." Santana slapped his arm.

"Have a little more excitement, will ya?" She snapped. Rolling his eyes, he mumbled something under his breath before going behind the curtain.

"Alright, Santana, here's your first question: What is David's full name?

She opened her mouth to speak, "Uh..." She drawled. "Fuck. Uh, David Shane Karofsky?" A second later, the screen turned on and Karofsky appeared.

He looked at the person behind the camera. _"You want me to give my answer now?"_ He asked.

 _"Yeah."_

 _"Okay."_ he said. _"My full name is David Brian Karofsky. Why my parents decided on such a stupid ass middle name, I don't know."_ Once the screen turned off, the Latina winced and rubbed the back of her neck as her boyfriend revealed himself from the partition.

He glared at her. "Seriously, Santana? Shane. What kind of idiot would name their kid Shane?"

Blaine rose his hand, "Actually, a lot of people have-"

"No one asked you, hobbit," he snapped.

Brittany's eyes widened. "Okay, Karofsky, i'm going to need you to sit down." Rolling his eyes, he complied.

She smiled again. "Alright! Next up: Emma!" As Will moved to the back of the partition, Finn turned to look at Rachel and found her biting her lip, something she does when she's anxious. Almost as if he knew what she needed, he went to grab her hand, gently squeezing it. At the action, she looked up at him with a grateful expression.

"Thanks," she mouthed. He gave her a lopsided grin and nodded before turning his attention back to the older couple.

"I would have to say Will's favorite musical is "Singing in the Rain." He always asks me to play it whenever he's sick," she answered sweetly.

"I sang in the rain once. I got cursed out by a homeless man and almost got jumped in an alley, but I had fun!" The host added suddenly. An awkward silence filled the air. She cleared her throat and smiled. "Anyways, let's see what his answer was."

 _"Gosh, that's such a hard question,"_ Will said on the screen, laughing. _"But no musical beats 'Singing in the Rain. It will forever be my favorite."_

"Ten points for you, Emma!" Brittany smiled. As Will happily walked back to his seat, she addressed the last couple. "Okay, guys, you're next. Blaine, would you go behind that partition, please?"

He smiled and stood up. "Of course."

"Alright, Kurt," she asked after a moment. "Here's your question: What is Blaine's favorite fashion accessory?"

"His bow tie," he answered immediately. "The kid can't live without it. Once I tried to steal his holiday themed one from him, he didn't talk to me for two days." Everyone but karofsky laughed at this.

A minute later, Blaine appeared on the screen, smiling. _"My bowties. Simple. Nothing goes in between me and my bowties," he explained, his face suddenly solemn. "And I mean, nothing."_

"Correct!" Brittany cheered, clapping. "Okay, now for the next for rounds you will be switching with your partners and answering harder questions. Rachel, you're up."

As Finn went behind the curtain, Rachel fiddled with the skirt of her dress as she waited for the question.

"Name one nickname Finn was given as a child."

She laughed at this. "Wow, that's a good one. He actually has a lot of nicknames," she responded happily. "Finnegan, Huddy, Hud, Hudson, Frankenteen-though in my opinion seems a little mean-"

"Just one, sweetie," the blonde cut off nicely. Slightly taken aback, Rachel nodded slowly.

"Um, well, there's one nickname that I absolutely love, but don't think he'll like it if I share."She grinned mischievously.

"Go ahead," the host encouraged with excited eyes. "It can't be _that_ bad."

She bit her lip and smiled. "His family members like to call him "Finny bear," because they think he's soft and cuddly like a Teddy bear. To be honest, I think so too," she added, winking at the camera for good measure. Everyone laughed at this.

After a while of laughing her behind off, Brittany wiped her eyes with her hand. "Woo, okay, now let's see his answer."

 _"Do I have to say it?"_ Finn said uncomfortably on the screen. Rachel could see the blush start to form on his cheeks as he muttered, _"Finny bear,"_ very quickly. The room burst with laughter again as Finn appeared from behind the curtain, the same blush on his cheeks as on the screen.

"Aww, it's okay, sweetie," Rachel cooed as he sat down next to her. "You'll always be my teddy bear." His cheeks got redder when she reached up to kiss his cheek.

"Karofsky, you're up!" The buff guy sighed and faced her in his seat.

"Name the High School Santana Attended."

"Are you serious right now?" He muttered exasperatedly to himself while running a hand through his hair. "I-I don't know, some roman catholic school?" He answered weakly.

 _"I know he's gonna get this answer wrong,"_ the Latina stated on the screen while she shrugged. _"I attended Tribeca Prep, an all girls school."_

"Well, Tribeca's kind of a catholic school. Right?" He said weakly as his girlfriend walked back to her seat.

She hit him at the back of the head. "No, idiot."

"Will, you're next!"

"Oh, boy…" Will said, rubbing his hands together.

"What was the name of Emma's first boyfriend?"

At the memory, the older man rolled his eyes. "Ugh, his name was Ken. Ken Tanaka. I still don't know what she saw in him."

"Hey!" The redhead's voice protested from behind the curtain.

Brittany showed Emma's answer on the screen and Will was in fact-

 _"Correct!"_ She declared.

"He wasn't that bad," Emma debated as she took a seat. "You just hated him because he was my first boyfriend." Her husband shook his head and chuckled.

"Sure, Emma."

"Blaine: "Who is Kurt's overall favorite fashion designer?" Brittany asked.

"Geez, that's a hard one." He bit his lip. "Uh, Vera Wang?"

 _"Being an editor in chief for Vogue, I have a lot of favorite designers. But if I had to choose my absolute favorite designer it would be Marc Jacobs,"_ Kurt responded on the screen. _"His sweaters are to die for."_

"I'm sorry, Blaine, but that was incorrect," said Brittany sympathetically.

He shrugged simply."It's alright. It was a hard question anyways."

As time went on and more questions were asked, Finn found himself feeling more and more stressed out. The questions became more and more detailed, and sometimes went as far as childhood memories. Thank goodness he and Rachel grew up together, because otherwise he'd be in deep shit.

It was the final round of the game and he and Rachel were surprisingly in the lead. He could see the look of surprise start to show on the brunette's face beside him that he could only guess he's wearing himself

"Alright, Finn. Your last question for the game. Are you ready?" Brittany asked.

Finn let out a sigh. "As I'll ever be."

"Okay...What is Rachel's worst fear?"

Finn frowned to himself. _Damn._ He was stumped. How can one know the overall fear of a girl that's literally afraid of everything? He immediately started to search his brain. Let's see, spiders, ghosts, losing her voice…

 _Wait._ He's got a good one.

It's moments like these where the bartender realizes how alike they really are. He took a deep breath before speaking.

"Being unsuccessful," he said finally. "Rachel's never been the one to just settle for whatever life throws at her. She always wants more. She's sure of where she wants to go in life…" he frowned to himself. "...she just doesn't know how to get there." He exclaimed softly. "And, I don't know...I guess it kind of scares her." A moment of silence filled the ballroom as his explanation hung in the air. He could feel everyone's eyes on him and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Uh, is that...is that it?"

"Let's see," the blonde said softly. Then, in an instant he saw Rachel on the screen, frowning at her lap.

 _"Failing at life,"_ she said after a moment. She pushed a piece of hair behind her ear. _"I-I know life isn't set in stone, but...you can't help but wonder what the future will be like...if those dreams you once had as a kid will actually come true."_ She finally made eye contact with the camera, her brown orbs swirling with emotion. _"It's my fear everyday."_

"Wow…" Brittany whispered to herself once the TV turned off. "Never have we had such an accurate answer for such a hard question. I thought you were gonna say that she was afraid of ghosts of something."

"That's my second fear," Rachel said as she revealed herself from the curtain and sat down. "But it's nothing like a life long fear, right?" She explained weakly, chuckling slightly. At the wounded look in her eyes, Finn wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her forehead.

The rest of the game went by smoothly, and Finn and Rachel won first place with 110 points, Will and Emma with 80, Kurt and Blaine with sixty and Santana and with 20.

As they got up to leave, they were stopped by a smiling Brittany. "Congrats Finn and Rachel! You are now in the lead. How do you feel?"

"Really great," Rachel said honestly. "As long as we keep this streak going, nothing can stop us." Her eyes shimmered with confidence, something that surprised Finn. It was a nice look on her.

Brittany sighed happily and looked at the rest of the contestants. "Now, since today was the first of many rounds in the competition, you will be granted a free day tomorrow." Excited chatter could already be heard as everyone started to voice their plans.

She smiled. "Now, the next challenge won't be until Monday, so relax, have fun, and remember: the games only get harder from here."

* * *

A comfortable silence surrounded the suite as Finn and Rachel got ready for bed that night.

"I'm surprised we won today," Rachel said as she brushed her hair in front of the bathroom mirror. "I thought out of all people, Will and Emma would win."

From his place on the bed, Finn sighed and reclined on his pillows. "Yeah, me too. But I guess it doesn't matter how many years you're married with a person when it comes to what you know about them."

Finished with her hair, Rachel turned off the bathroom light and walked into the room towards her bed. "Speaking of surprises, I was surprised by your memory skills today," she said.

He smirked at her as she climbed onto the bed. "Why, because i'm so dumb that I can't retain any information?" He asked.

"No," she said immediately with a shake of her head. "I-I just gave you a lot of information to remember. I wasn't sure if you read it or not." She looked down at her lap bashfully. It was silent for awhile...so silent that the tension coming from the big elephant in the room was just screaming to be addressed.

"Thanks," she suddenly said. Finn had to lean in slightly, for she spoke so soft.

"Huh?"

"Not a lot of people understand me," she clarified, looking up at him. "But you do. You understand." Blush formed on her cheeks at the admission, causing him to grin. Another moment of silence filled the air.

"You and I...we aren't as different as you think, munchkin," he whispered after a while. He shrugged. "I mean, get scared too sometimes. I don't want to work as a bartender for the rest of my life. That's like, the ultimate loser status," he sighed and looked up at the ceiling helplessly. "The thing is,... I just don't know what I want, you know?" Rachel nodded silently at this, her eyes understanding. That's almost _exactly_ how she feels. She doesn't want to be stuck as a diner girl or a miserable voice coach that trains spoiled little kids. She wants more.

He sighed as he lay on his pillow, still looking up at the mirror covered ceiling. "And my mom...she believes in me so much. I don't want to disappoint her."

The brunette's heart sunk at the dejected look on his face and he gently touched his arm. "Finn." He turned his head to look at her. "Your mom loves you," she said softly. "Matter of fact, she adores you. Whatever career choice you choose, I'm pretty sure she'll be right behind you."

A smirk appeared on his lips. "So if I wanted to be a stripper…"

"Okay, not literally." She rolled her eyes with a grin and he chuckled softly at her. All these years she's never known he felt the same. They probably could've had more moments like these in the past if they took the time to talk to each other instead of arguing all of the time.

Comfortable silence filled the air until the she scoffed. "At least you have support. I'd do anything to be in your position right now."

Finn turned his head to look at her, his eyes soft. "Still haven't heard anything from your dads?"

She shook her head and crossed her arms. "No," she said, sighing deeply. "And i'm guess they would've reached out to me by now if they cared, so…" At her response, Finn sighed disappointedly. It's been ten years since Rachel's talked to her fathers last. Growing up, Rachel's always wanted to reach for the stars. Both being doctors, Leroy and Hiram's thought different. They filled her innocent little mind with the dream they wished for her, the dream of working in the medical field. It wasn't until the day that she finally told them of her true passion that things started to turn out for the worst, resulting in Rachel stranded in New York with no job, no place to live, and zero education. He remembers how many years she stayed with Quinn until she was able to get back on her feet.

"Well, I think you did a good job today," he said in attempt to brighten the mood. "Actress, Rachel Berry's totally gonna take Broadway by storm." He nudged her shoulder gently and she giggled.

"I don't know about that," she said bashfully looking down at her lap.

"All i'm saying is, people would be dumb not to want you now. I mean, you're on a tv show for fucks sake. That's got to mean something, right?" She looked up at him and smiled.

"I guess it does. Thanks, Finn," she said. "That was actually _really_ nice." As he made eye contact, he found himself almost getting lost in her brown orbs one again.

He looked away and smirked. "Yeah, but don't get too comfortable. I still don't like you."

"Surrree," she drawled out with a smile, rolling her eyes as she got under the covers. Finn reached over to turn the light off.

"Goodnight, Finn."

"Night, Rachel."

* * *

A lot of things annoy him in the morning. Alarms clocks, early morning call times, just about anything that makes a sound. He's been known to be cranky in the morning for these reasons alone. So you could only guess his surprise when a beautiful voice coming from the bathroom wakes him up and actually makes him happy.

 _"Oh my man I love him sooo...he'll never know!"_

He halted in his spot under the covers and cracked one eye open to scope out his surroundings. Was there a radio on or something? Slowly, he got up and walked towards the slightly opened bathroom door. Moving his ear closer to the sound, he was pleasantly surprised by what he heard.

It was Rachel.

Rachel was in the shower; _singing_.

I know what you're thinking, _"You mean to tell me you've grown up with this girl for twenty years and you haven't heard her sing once?"_ The thing is, he has. When he was in middle school, his mom always made him go to her concerts and plays. It wasn't until freshman year in highschool that she finally gave in and granted him freedom. It's been years since he's last heard her voice. He knew it sounded great, but he never heard it like that. It sort of confused him that she hadn't gotten a part on broadway yet.

He could hear the sound of the shower turn off and he scrambled around to find a position _less_ stalkerish. He leaned against the wall adjacent to the door and crossed his arms nonchalantly as he waited for her. Two minutes later, she stepped outside, her hair and body both wrapped up in a towel.

"You're voice sounded cool in there." She jumped in surprise at the sound of his voice and he laughed.

Turning around, Rachel took a deep breath and placed a hand on her heart, her eyes wide. "Geez, Finn, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" She huffed.

He shrugged and grinned lopsidedly. "Nope. Just trying to get ready."

She nodded slowly, her eyes still alert. "Well...you are now free to use the bathroom." He turned around and started to walk into the bathroom when she spoke again.

"And...thanks."

He turned around and smirked at her through the slightly closed door. "You're welcome."

* * *

 _"Cannon ball!"_ Karofsky held himself in fetal position as he plummeted into the cool, comforting waters of the underground swimming pool. From their seats on the patio, Blaine and Finn laughed as Santana repeatedly hit her boyfriend with a pool noodle for getting her wet.

Blaine sighed and leaned back in his chair. "This is nice. I haven't relaxed this much since Kurt and I's honeymoon."

Finn smiled at his friend. "Hey, you never told me how you guys met," he said.

Blaine smiled at this. "We went to highschool together. Well, Kurt transferred to my school around junior year. There were some problems at his old school."

"Let me guess, bullying?" Finn asked. The hair gelled man nodded, his eyes questioning.

"Yeah. H-How'd you know that?"

"My brother went through the same thing," he clarified. Blaine nodded.

"Kurt'll probably kill me if I tell you before him, so I should probably stop while i'm at it." They laughed. A minute later, Blaine checked the time on his watch his watch.

"Gosh, what is taking them so long?" Finn said impatiently.

Blaine sighed deeply and shook his head. "This is honestly nothing new to me. Kurt's probably upstairs critiquing Rachel's clothes right now."

A few very frustrating minutes later, they turned their heads towards the glass patio door when they heard it slide open. Out walked Kurt first, who wore Michael Kors shorts and flip-flops with a top.

"Ridiculous," Blaine stated exasperatedly. Finn couldn't hear the rest, for his focus was on something else.

Or rather _someone_ else.

Walking out of the house happily, Rachel stood in the middle of the pool deck with a pastel pink string bikini. From his seat, Finn gulped. What the happened to the polka-dot one-piece?

At their appearance Blaine nodded and grinned knowingly. "Yep. Just like I thought. Your fiance's wearing a bathing suit from Kurt's collection." Finn just nodded.

Suddenly, he perked up. "Ooh! I've got an idea!" He leaned over to Finn and whispered something in his ear.

"I honestly don't understand why you thought that travesty of a bathing suit was acceptable," Kurt exclaimed from the poolside with a shake of his head. "Had I not had a backup, you would've been stuck wearing it."

Rachel rolled her eyes and smiled. "It's not _that_ bad, Kurt. Otherwise, I wouldn't have packed it."

"Yeah, well-" his sentence was cut off when he was lifted suddenly by his semi-strong husband and tossed into the pool with him. Rachel barely had time to process what happened before she too was lifted bridal-style and carried into the pool. The cool feeling of water hit her like a ton of bricks and she had to register what was happening first before she swam up to the surface.

As soon as oxygen filled her lungs again, she focused her attention on her _"fiance,"_ who seemed to be laughing his butt off.

 _"Blaine Anderson!"_ She took a glance at Kurt who seemed to not be amused at all as he stood drenched in the five foot pool of water. His husband laughed at his now disheveled appearance while he glared at him.

Kurt pointed a finger accusingly at his spouse. "You're lucky we're on this show. Otherwise, there'd be _hell_ to pay, you hear me? _Hell_." As Kurt marched up the pool steps and back to his previous place, Blaine turned towards finn Finn, mouthing the word, _"yikes"_ with a cringe before following him. Finn shook his head and chuckled before turning towards his current situation: a fuming Rachel.

Her petite form stood before him with crossed arms as she stared him down...or stared him up, to be more accurate.

"C'mon, Rachel," he said with a smile. "You can't possibly be mad at me for tossing you in the pool."

Her shoulders relaxed when she caught a cameraman focussing his attention on them from the deck. "I'm not mad," she answered reluctantly. Lie. "I just don't understand why you thought it was such a good idea to…" her words fell short when the feeling of his lips pressing against hers stopped her rant. Surprised, she blinked at him for a moment before closing her eyes and reciprocating the kiss. When he finally pulled apart from her, he kept his face a close distance from hers as she stared up at him with wide eyes, trying to catch her breath.

"Forgive me?" He said simply with a lopsided grin. It took her awhile to process things, but once she did, she nodded her head slowly. Smirking, Finn chuckled before swimming away, leaving her frozen in the middle of the pool.

 _Well, I'll be damned._ Blinking quickly, she shook her head before making her way out of the pool and back to her seat. Next to her sat Emma, who was looking at her with a soft smile of her face.

"Men. When will they understand that a woman's preparation takes time and effort."

Rachel laughed at her comment and nodded. "Exactly," she agreed. "It's like they completely forget how much time it takes for us to look even remotely presentable for the day."

"It took years for Will to understand my morning routine," the older woman admitted as she took a sip of lemonade from her glass. Both women looked at their partners as they talked to one another. "I mean, pampering is sacred for a woman, you know?" The brunette nodded in agreement.

"How did you get him to finally understand?" She asked. Emma put her glass down and turned her seat towards her, her brown eyes filled with amusement.

"He thought that the reason I take so much time getting ready was because I was insecure of how I looked. I still think he does, to be quite honest." They shared a giggle. "He spent years bombarding me with the littlest of compliments to try to make me feel good. Eventually he realized that me taking time to prep myself wasn't because I was felt bad about myself, but because I was trying to make myself become the best person I can be." At this, a wave of conversations from the last few days hit her like a ton of bricks.

 _"Actress Rachel Berry's totally gonna take Broadway by storm."_

 _"All i'm saying is, people would be dumb not to want you now."_

 _"You're voice sounded cool in there."_

 _"You look beautiful."_

She blinked for a moment before looking across the poolside at Finn, who seemed to be laughing at something Will said. Feeling someone's eyes on him, he locked eyes with her, a lopsided grin on his face.

"Yeah," she said, her heart beating erratically in her chest. "Exactly."

"Hey guys, I just came up with the best idea!" Shouted Karofsky from the pool. "We should totally play Chicken Fight!" His girlfriend clapped eagerly at this and smiled.

"My man can totally pack a punch," Santana added proudly, smiling up at him.

"So who's in?" He asked. A moment of silence passed while everyone looked at each other.

Will shared a reluctant look with his wife. "Uh, Emma and are gonna sit this one out. We don't want to ruin the fun for you guys."

Karofsky looked indifferent. "Okay, so the geezers are out. That's cool. But please tell me the twinkle-toe twins aren't calling out."

"If by _"twinkle toe twins, "_ you mean us, then you are correct," Kurt responded sassily with a roll of his eyes. At this, Rachel and Finn connected eyes.

"You want to do it?" Finn asked.

With slight blush forming on her cheeks, Rachel nodded. "S-Sure. I'm up for any competition."

"Woo! Let's go!" Karofsky continued to clap hard and loud as Finn and Rachel slowly made their way inside the pool.

Finn looked at his fiancé cautiously. "You sure you want to do this?"

Rachel smirked. "Finn, I think you've forgotten who you're talking to," she said matter-of-factly, her hands on her hips. "Chicken Fight is in my blood, okay? I always win this."

Finn chuckled at her determined countenance. "If you say so…" He started lowering himself further in the water. After about two minutes of getting settled on their partner's shoulders, both couples stood across from each other, ready to face a battle that should be illegal. At the sight of the couple before them, Finn smirked. See, at home, he and Rachel were known to be the champions of chicken fight. Despite being complete enemies for most of their lives, Finn and Rachel to be a good team. He wasn't sure of it was the broadness of his shoulders or Rachel's surprising upper body strength, but they've never been defeated. And he guesses based upon the determined look on the brunette's face above him, they're not gonna start now.

"I'll be the referee," Will offered from his seat on the deck.

"This is gonna be a bloodbath," Kurt muttered, grasping on his husband's shoulder.

"Alright. You guys ready?"

"Totally ready," Karofsky responded. "It's time to show him what Santofsky's about, right babe?"

Santana smirked. "Right."

Finn craned his head to look up at Rachel. "Ready, Rachel?"

She grinned. "Ready."

Will grinned. "On your marks...get set...GO!" Kurt Blaine cheered for each couple as they fought one another in the water. Finn focused on holding onto the brunette's legs as she flailed her arms to try and get the Latina to lose her balance. The battle seemed to last forever, but lasted only for three minutes until Santana lost balance and fell backwards into the water.

At seeing her opponent fall into the water, Rachel beamed from above. "Yes!" She cheered. Grinning wide, Finn lowered himself underwater so she could get off of his shoulders. Once he rose from the water, he felt Rachel wrap her small arms around him in a hug. Wiping some water from his face, he grinned down at her beaming face.

"We totally showed them," she said.

"Hell yeah, we did!" Grinning, they both shared a high-five. Looking over the brunette's head, Finn found Karofsky whispering something into his girlfriend's ear, Santana nodding along with an uneasy look on her face. Something unsettling churned in his stomach, but he pushed it aside, as he watched the couple pulled apart.

"Hey, we want a rematch," said Karofsky after a moment. "We don't think it's fair that Berry got to charge first."

At this, Finn and Rachel shared a look. What would a second win hurt anyways? "Uh, sure man," Finn said, shrugging. As both girls got settled on their partner's shoulders, Rachel noticed something flash in the Latina's eyes.

Will clapped his hands. "Alright, ready…set...GO!" In an instant, both couples were back to fighting. Rachel squealed happily as she gently grabbed the Santana's arms in hopes of knocking her down. Things were all fun and games until the Latina grabbed her shoulders roughly and pushed her with all her might, sending the smaller brunette backwards in one swift movement.

Finn sighed disappointedly when he heard the splash and started to stand up straighter in the water. He was about to congratulate the couple when he realized how long it's been that Rachel's been under water.

"Rachel?" He said concerningly, turning around. Seconds later, a wounded Rachel slowly arose from the water, her face contorted in pain as she grasped at the back of her neck.

"Ow…" she whimpered. As Finn saw her bottom lip start to tremble, he immediately sprung into action.

He approached her slowly, his voice soft. "Let me see, baby." Gently, he pushed her hair away from the back of her neck and examined it with concern. When he reached out and touched it, she immediately let out a his.

"Ow." Despite their wet surroundings, he could've sworn he saw a tear trickle down her cheek. Anger burned from the inside of him and he turned around quickly, his eyes aflame.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" He snapped.

"Finn, I'm fine," Rachel said weakly.

"No, you're not, Rachel! They totally just shoved you off my shoulders-"

"Look, we were playing the game right," Karofsky said with a smirk. "It's not my fault your girlfriend is just a weak, bony little puss-"

"You wanna finish that sentence?" Finn snarled, storming closer to him.

"Finn, stop," she said softly, grabbing his arm.

"You better listen to your girl, Hudson," Karofsky said with a smirk. "I mean, that's what you do best, right? Follow her around like a lost little puppy?" At this, Finn's breath came out in short puffs, his fists clenched tight at his sides as he stared at the other man under his eyelashes.

Uh oh. Rachel knows that look. And after many years of being around him and seeing how Finn works, she knows things won't be good for anyone if she lets this continue.

She touched one of his clenched fists in hopes of soothing him. "Finn, honey, come on. They're not worth it." Seeing him visibly relax his shoulders at her touch made her heart flutter with pride and she gently tugged him away from them, keeping caution of her aching neck and back. A moment of awkward silence filled the whole deck.

"Hey, who wants some burgers?" Will offered suddenly, standing up from his seat.

"I could use some," Blaine said hurriedly as he averted his gaze from the two couples in the pool.

"Okay, good. I'll get them started now." As the other two couples moved to set things up on the deck, Karofsky and Santana moved to get out of the pool, the girl's eyes sympathetic, while the male smirked sardonically. Finn's hard stare never wavered until the brunette's gentle hands on his face caught his attention. A caring, almost tender emotion passed over his eyes as he looked at her.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked.

"Yeah, i'm good," she grinned at him despite the stabbing pain in her back. "I might have to refrain from Chicken Fight for a while, but otherwise i'll be good." She found that he was still looking at Karofsky and sighed.

"Finn, i'm fine." She kissed his chest before looking up at him again. "Okay?" His chestnut eyes still held a slight showing of concern, but eventually he relaxed and grinned at her softly.

"Okay." Wrapping an arm around her, he kissed her forehead before separating from her and making his way up the pool steps.

The next half an hour went by smoothly (well, as smoothly as it could get) as everyone got prepared for lunch. As soon as she set her foot on the deck, Finn made it his mission to make sure she wouldn't strain herself. Every time she would move slightly in her seat, Finn would have his eyes on her like a hawk. It was kind of uncomfortable, to be honest. When everything was set up up for lunch everyone took a seat at the table and waited for Will to be done with the burgers. Finn took a seat next to Rachel and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, cautious of the pain in her neck.

Grabbing a handful of chips from a glass bowl, Santana leaned back in her seat and sighed. "You know what would be the shit right now? A margarita."

Kurt frowned. "But isn't it only two o'clock?"

"Yes, which makes it a perfect time for a lunchtime cocktail," she retorted.

"You know, I wouldn't mind a little alcohol," Blaine added. "I mean, what's a beer gonna do anyways?"

"Make you totally wasted," Kurt snickered. His husband rolled his eyes at him.

Finn stood up from his seat. "Well, I could make us drinks," he offered.

Karofsky rose an eyebrow. "Oh really? And how do you know how to make drinks?"

From her seat, Rachel visibly tensed. Did he forget what we told them?

"My uncle," he lied smoothly, grinning. "He was a bartender in his early years and taught me everything he knows about drinks...when I was old enough, of course." Finn took this time to cast a quick wink at her before making his way towards the bar. Grinning, Rachel relaxed in her seat.

As Finn started setting glasses on the bar, he saw Blaine start to approach him.

"Hey man," he greeted, grabbing a barstool and sitting on it. Finn nodded in greeting before turning around and picking up a few bottles of alcohol behind him.

Blaine exhaled a breath. "That was...that was quite the show that happened earlier." Mindful of two cameras on him, Finn nodded and started pouring the drinks before casting his gaze over the man's shoulder to Karofsky, who was currently being scolded by his girlfriend.

"Yeah, well," he grabbed a nearby cutting board and a lemon, "it all could've been avoided if Santana hadn't pushed Rachel so hard in the water." His gaze settled on Rachel as he grabbed a knife and started cutting the lemon into slices.

Blaine frowned. "I would've reacted the same way if I were in your shoes. I mean, you should've seen it from where we-Finn _!_ " The younger man's hands reached out to stop Finn from nearly cutting off his finger, for it was so close to the knife. Finally looking away from Karofsky, he glanced down at fruit in front of him and sighed.

"Can I be honest with you, Blaine?"

Blaine frowned. "Yeah, Finn. Of course."

He rose his head and pointed at the man. "I don't trust him," he said. "He's just got some vibe about him that's not cool, and…" he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I mean, you saw the way he looked at us. It's like he's planning some...attack in his head."

"To be honest with you, I've noticed it too," Blaine agreed. "Whenever Kurt and I would kiss or hug each other he'd give us this...look." He frowned to himself. "I-I don't know, I didn't want to tell Kurt about it because I didn't think it was a big deal, but based on what I saw today…" he turned around to look at Karofsky.

"There's definitely something sketchy about the guy."

* * *

"No way!" Blaine said with wide eyes as the table erupted into laughter.

From his seat, Will smiled and shrugged. "It's what I had to do. It was either I turn him into the principal for "possessing drugs," or he had to join the glee club," he exclaimed.

"I totally would've done the same thing, Will," Finn said, biting into his burger. "Whatever it takes to keep things together."

"Did he ever find out?" Rachel asked.

The older man grinned. "Yeah, I told him the truth on the last day of his senior year. His exact words were, "you're the coolest teacher I've ever had". Everyone laughed at this.

"See, this is why we should have a karaoke night," Kurt proposed. "It'll allow us to see your vocal talents, Will." He looked at everyone. "All of you."

Karofsky found this ridiculous and scoffed, "Yeah, well, I don't sing. All that prissy, gay stuff isn't for me."

This caught Kurt's attention and he frowned. "Since when is singing _"gay_?" Once again, awkward silence filled the deck as the question hung in the air.

Breaking the silence, Santana slapped her boyfriend's arm. "Don't act like you haven't sung before. I've got videos after videos of you singing KISS in the shower at home." Karofsky's face turned red in embarrassment, and with that, the subject was dropped.

* * *

Rachel groaned and tried to take the remote from Finn's hands. "C'mon, Finn, give me the remote."

"No!" He exclaimed, pushing her arms away. "This is the first time I've ever been allowed to use a 90 inch tv and I'll be damned if the first thing I see is "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Giving up, Rachel let out a huff and crossed her arms as Finn scrolled through movies on the television.

It was nighttime and they were in their room for the night, fighting over which movie to watch. This battle was nothing new, for they grew up together and often fought for the remote when they had sleepovers. Rachel would always end up winning, though, because she was always the smaller, more dramatic, drama queen between the two.

"Can we at least find a movie that we both like?" She asked. He looked at her with narrowed eyes for a moment.

"Fine," he said after a moment. She beamed and took the remote from him. "But don't choose something cliche and girly like you always do," he said. The brunette rolled her eyes and browsed through the movies until she landed on one.

"There," she said as she pressed play. _"The Hangover._ No girly, or cliche content. Happy?"

Finn grinned mockingly. "Very."

About a half an hour into watching the movie, Finn noticed that Rachel had been shifting in her seat on the bed for quite some time.

He looked at her amusedly. "You good?"

She tried to rub her lower back. "Yeah, just the medicine I took earlier is wearing off and my back is starting to hurt, so…"

"I can help you with that," he offered. All he got was a raised eyebrow. Finn rolled his eyes. "Come on, I'll help you out, just...take off your shirt and lay on your stomach."

Her eyes widened. "What?! I'm not taking my shirt off in front of you!" She screeched.

He shrugged it off and folded his arms, looking straight. "Fine. Just take another pill again and see how long that lasts."

Rachel groaned and rolled her eyes. "Gosh, fine, I'll do it. Just don't look at me. " Finn nodded with a smirk and continued to look the other way as she started to take her pajama top off. Once she did, she laid down stomach first on the bed.

"Okay." She said. "I'm ready."

Finn wasn't sure why he thought Rachel would have her bra on while he massaged her, but when he turned around and saw her bare back, he was nothing less than aroused. He couldn't help but think of how things would've been if they were doing other things in this bed.

He spent a while just staring at her back until he actually went to touching it. He felt Rachel's muscles start to tended as soon as he touched her, which made it more difficult to find the knot in her back.

He stopped moving his hands. "Just...try to relax, okay? I can't find the knot in your back if you're tense." At that, he felt her muscles start to relax and he grinned.

"I'm gonna start with your neck, okay?"

"Okay," she mumbled. Slowly, he moved his hands up towards the area between her shoulders and started to massage it. About two minutes into carefully massaging her, he got a groan in response.

He detached his hands from her immediately. "You okay?" He asked frantically.

"More than okay…" she murmured. He chuckled at her.

He moved his hands lower towards her lower back. "I'm gonna work on your back now, okay?"

"Okay."

Slowly and easily, he started to massage her back, using his thumbs to press into the hard, knotted parts. Rachel let out another groan and Finn almost had to stop his ministrations, for he felt his pants getting too tight. That's when he decided to take a glance at the brunette's butt. Finn licked his lips at the sight of the perky cheeks as he continued to massage her. Daringly, he moved his hands lower, resting them on her ass.

Rachel tensed up. "Alright, get off." Finn laughed before turning round so she put her shirt back on.

When he turned back around, he found the brunette rubbing the back of her neck with a peaceful smile on her face. "Wow. My back actually feels better."

Finn rolled his eyes. "Thanks for believing in me, Rach."

"No! I just didn't think your big hands would be capable of fixing my back. How did you know how to do that?"

It took a moment for him to remember, but once he did, a huge goofy grin formed on his face.

Rachel sighed and rolled her eyes. "Let me guess, a booty call?"

"Her name was Jessica," he answered smugly. "She was an masseuse at some spa in Queens. He sighed happily. "Gosh, she was such a-"

"Okay, you're getting a little too comfortable here, and I'm gonna need you to stop." Rachel cut off, holding a hand up. Finn rolled his eyes, but nodded.

"Thanks, anyways," she said meekly. "I really needed that."

He cast a smirk at her before reclining against the headboard, his hands behind his head. "No problem, munchkin."

She frowned at him. "Would you stop calling me that?" She snapped. "Why do you call me that anyways. It's it's degrading and-and rude to people who actually habe that disability.

He rose an eyebrow at her. "You really want to know?"

Rachel nodded with an exasperated expression. "Uh, _yeah!_ " Silently, Finn patted the spot next to him. Rachel stook a seat.

"Okay," he sighed. "Remember that sleepover we had at your dads' house? The one where I stayed for the week because of my parent's wedding anniversary?" She nodded. "We were in your room at night, trying to figure out a movie to watch. Even though I wanted to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we ended up watching your choice, which was _'The Wizard of Oz'_." He chuckled as he said, "You didn't even last an hour and you fell asleep around the scene where Dorothy met the munchkins."

Finn grinned softly into the distance as he recalled the memory. "I just remember looking at you...all small and cute, curled away into a little ball fast asleep. You just looked so...innocent and small, just like those munchkins. At that moment I decided that would be your name and I've been using it ever since." A moment of silence filled the air after he finished. Finn stayed staring straight, rubbing the back of his neck.

When he finally casted a glance at her, he found her expression unidentifiable. Her eyes, however, held a stronger emotion, almost soft as they stared into his. A moment of just staring lasted for about a minute until he decided to say something.

"Oh, and I call you midget just to annoy you," he said. Finn watched as her previous expression changed into one of annoyance.

"See?" He pointed with a smile. "That face almost always makes my day!"

She pushed him. "Shut up," she said. Finn laughed.

He sighed. "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay."

Rachel nodded. "Me too." Nothing but the sound of ruffled sheets filled the air as they got settled under the covers.

Reaching over to turn off the light, he yawned. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." As darkness filled the room, Rachel finally let the smile she contained spread on her face as her stomach fluttered.

 _The more you know indeed._

* * *

 **Yes, I am back! Final exams are finally over and I can post more updates now! For a while I will be focusing on Save Money Live Better so I can get on to finishing the story/ I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

 **~Vikki3775**


	5. Chapter 5

**Wow. It's been a long, long, long,** _ **long**_ **time since i've updated. A lot have stuff has been happening in my life, that I will soon update you guys on. Anyways, I've got a new chapter for ya!**

 **Oh, and a chapter on The Man Who Can't Be Moved will be coming real shortly, just wanted to add that in. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!**

 **~Vikki3775**

* * *

Yawning, Finn shielded his eyes from the light streaming in through the dining room window with his hand. You'd think that after three weeks of getting up at the same time everyday, he'd be used to it. Sighing, Finn ran a hand over his face. He couldn't be more wrong.

He glanced at his fake fiancee, who appeared to be doing pretty well without caffeine, giggling softly at something Kurt said. His eyes narrowed in a sleepy glare.

 _Must be great to be you,_ he thought. He guesses that he said that out loud, because she shot him a quick frown. Blushing, he averted his eyes from her.

"So, what are we supposed to be doing after this?" Karofsky asked, looking at the blonde host at the end of the table. "San and I need to prepare for when we win again." He smirked cocklily at his girlfriend.

At this, Finn and Rachel rolled their eyes. Last week, they played another " _how much do you know your partner,"_ kind of game for the second round. And guess who won that? You guessed it: Santofsky. And it wasn't even a fair fight. He remembers what Rachel said the night after the competition.

" _The only reason why they won was because the questions were highly sexual and suggestive. Of course the low class stripper and the sex addict won,_ " she protested. " _I mean, how was I supposed to know that your collarbone is your most sensitive spot?"_

 _He shifted his eyes awkwardly. "You literally could've asked the whole city,"_ he retorted.

 _She rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Um, I'm sorry, but i'd rather not hear about your slutty little escapades." He rolled his eyes at this. Despite the slight jab at his ego, he couldn't help but notice how dramatic she got when she was angry. Or how her little hands rolled up into fists, almost as if she wanted to punch him. Or how her nostrils-_

A gentle nudge at his left side snapped him out of it and he looked over to find Rachel and everyone else start to stand up from their seats.

"Wait, where are we going?" He asked dumbly.

She frowned. "Didn't you hear what she said?" He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She sighed and rolled her eyes. "I'll tell you on the way."

He slowly stood up and proceeded to follow her. "Okay."

* * *

Smiling widely, Brittany clapped her hands."Alright, guys, how's everyone doin'? How was breakfast?" Mumbles of approval came back in response. She smiled wider.

"Now, I know you guys are probably wondering why you are all standing in this yard, wearing matching shorts with your partner-"

"You got that right," David said from across from her. He pulled at the t-shirt he was wearing in disgust. "Periwinkle pink? What kind of gay shit is this?" He pointed at Kurt and Blaine. "Why couldn't twinkle-di and twinkle-dum get this color?"

"For a homophobic, you sure know a lot about pink shades, " Blaine retorted. Rachel, Finn and Kurt laughed. Karofsky glared at them.

The game is called, _#TagTeam,"_ she continued. "Each couple is divided into teams by color. Wemma is green, Klaine purple, Finchel blue, and Santofsky pink. It's sort of like one of those races were the turtle and the fox compete, but the turtle ends up winning because he's smarter and has more endurance." Everyone stared at the ditzy blonde in confusion.

"Basically, you guys will be going through a bunch of domestic themed obstacle courses, all the while being attached to each other."

Santana arched a brow. "Attached to each other _how?"_ She asked.

She palmed her forehead and laughed. "Oops! I almost forgot!" She turned towards the back entrance of the house, yelling, "Ladies!" Out of nowhere, four skimpy clothes women entered the yard in a line, each of them holding a piece of clothing with a smile on their face.

"Being in a committed relationship requires a lot of work," Brittany explains. "So much work that some couples feel as if they're living their life together as one. So, as each of you complete this obstacle course, you will be sharing a pair of overly sized pants." With that, each girl gave their assigned couple a pair of stretchy sweatpants.

Will nodded politely at the African American girl and took the pants. "Thank you."

"Yeah, thank you indeed…" Karofsky smirked, his eyes trailing after one of the girl's passing by. Santana whacked the back of his head.

"Ow!"

Smirking slightly, Finn's eyes followed one of the girls as she walked back to the house. _Damn_. Suddenly, a pinching sensation filled his arm. Hissing, he frowned down at the brunette.

She continued to look straight. "I know it's really hard for you _not_ to pounce on the first girl you see, but I'd appreciate it if you'd keep in in your pants until the end of this game." She finally looked up at him, her mouth curled into a smile, while her eyes pierced into him like a knife. She pinched his arm once more.

He winced. "Ouch, okay, okay," he said hurriedly. "I won't do it again." She nodded curtly before turning her attention back to the host.

Mindful of the cameras on him, he kept his expression blank, despite his current confusion. _What the hell?_

"The game is simple," Brittany said. She turned around and pointed at the structures in the distance. "When I honk my horn, each of you will run down this hill to a fake bedroom set, that was designed by our crew. There, you will make up a king sized bed, using sheets, pillowcases, and all that stuff." She gestured towards the other sets in the distance. "Next, you and your partner will enter our fake bathroom and brush your teeth. But in this round, you will be using each other's hands."

Brittany smiled and faced them. "It's time for school! You and your partner must run back into the Palvari mansion, into the kitchen, where you will be assembling a PB&J sandwich for your child. Then-"

"Woah, woah, woah…" Will backtracked with a frown. "A child?"

"A fake one," She clarified. "Yeah, we tried contacting a few orphanages, to see if they'd give us some real children, but they wouldn't budge." Awkward silence filled the air as everyone shared perplexed looks with one another.

"After you and your partner are finished packing the lunch, you are then expected to bring the lunch to the, "school bus," also known as the limos, out front. There, you will grab a handkerchief with your assigned color and return back to _this_ spot, where you will given your final score. The couple who gets to the finish line first, wins." She smiled. "So, without further ado, put on your pants, please."

Karofsky started to grab at the buckle of his jeans. "Wait. do we have to, like, strip or something?"

Four people down from him, Finn and Rachel were busy struggling with their ridiculously stretchy apparel.

Rachel she put one leg in the hole. "I don't get this," she said. "Wouldn't it have been easier to just..tie our feet together? You know, like a relay race?"

Finn sighed as he fumbled with the cotton-like fabric, "Honestly, Rach, if they wanted us to look _less_ like complete idiots, they would've done so." He stared down at one of his legs, which looked vacuum-sealed in the single pants leg.

The brunette ran a hand through her hair and looked up at her partner worriedly. "It's just, I'm not that physically acclimated. One time, I broke my ankle playing _tag_ , Finn. _Tag._ I-I'll be lucky enough if I make it a minute without tripping." Shifting slightly, she faced forward, biting her lip in anxiousness. Finn grinned at this and rolled his eyes.

"Please, Rachel, you're not _that_ bad," he said. "Remember that flag football game we had our senior year? You totally kicked ass." At this, the brunette blushed. He grinned. "You'll do fine. We've just gotta have a game plan." When she didn't respond, he sighed and gently moved her shoulders so she would face him.

"It's all about timing and persuasion," he said.

She rose an eyebrow. "You mean precision?"

"Yeah, whatever," he said dismissively. "I used to do this kind stuff in high school. We used it as a teamwork exercise for football."

"As much as I love a good teamwork story," Finn rolled his eyes at her sarcasm, "how is that going to help us win the rac-"

"Counting!" He blurted out suddenly, eyes widened. "Whenever we ran through drills, coach Beiste would have us count together, in order to stay aligned with each other during our drills." From the corner of his eye, he could see Brittany finishing up her makeup in the distance.

He looked at Rachel's confused face. "When it's time to run, repeat the words, _one, two, one two_ , after every step. Got it?"

She frowned, looking confused. "I-I guess-"

"Alright everyone," Brittany announced from a distance. "You ready?" Excited cheers came in return. Rachel gulped.

"On your mark, get set…." Brittany leaned forward slightly in anticipation as she smiled. "Go!" At the sound of the air horn sounding through the field, all four couples dashed down the hill towards the first challenge of the race. Rachel stared down at her semi-bound feet and frowned when she realized they weren't in sync with Finn's. Almost as if he knew what she was thinking, he stopped them abruptly.

He looked into her eyes. "One for the left foot, two for the right, okay?" Nodding quickly, Rachel straightened up and proceeded to do as instructed.

"One," She put her left foot out.

"Two," Finn said, just as quickly. Things were a rush as they ran in sync with each other. It took nothing for them to get the system down and before they knew it, they were catching up with the rest of the couples. Rachel smiled as they approached the bedroom door.

"Oh my gaga…" Adjacent to him, Finn noticed Kurt's exasperated expression as he and his husband searched frantically for something. "Where are our sheets?!" He screeched.

"You know, instead of standing there panicking, you could be helping, Kurt," Blaine huffed as he stifled through a bunch of empty draws. Kurt sighed and rolled his eyes before going over to help him.

Grinning happily, Finn hopped over to Rachel's side as she started unfolding the sheets sprawled on their bed. "Rach, we might actually win this thing. Kurt and Blaine can't find their sheets." She looked up at him with a frown before looking over his shoulder at the struggling couple. Upon seeing them struggle, she beamed.

"Good! It'll buy us some time. Now, I believe the fitted sheet is supposed to go here…" At that moment, Finn casted a glance at the other competitors. His stomach dropped quickly when upon seeing Wemma and Santofsky continue up the hill.

Quickly, he snatched the sheets from her hands. "Fuck directions," he said. "All we have to do is make it _look_ like we made the bed." He spread out the fitted sheet neatly before laying out the other one immediately after. He paused for a moment before looking at Rachel incredulously.

"You could help."

She snapped out of it and blinked. "Oh, yeah, sorry." She reached down to grab the pillow cases and shoved the pillows in them as fast as she could. By the time she was finished, Finn was straightening up the quilts on the bed.

He pointed at the futon. "Okay, put them there and grab my arm. I just saw two couples run up the hill." Nodding quickly, the brunette tossed them on the bed and grabbed his arm.

They swiftly moved to the faux bathroom located next door and grabbed a toothbrush.

"How the hell are we gonna do this?" Finn asked as he stared at the green brush. "We're both righties!"

Rachel frowned as she squeezed toothpaste on her partners brush. "We just have to find a way. Now, brush my teeth and i'll brush yours." With slight difficulty, Finn and Rachel managed to scrub their teeth.

"One, two, one, two, one, two…" They chanted as the moved swiftly up the hill. Rachel could see Will and Emma start to approach the back door of the mansion. She trained her eyes on them as they picked up the pace. Just as the older couple was about to enter the threshold, a short man with an afro jumped in front of them and pulled his pants down.

The older couple stopped in front of the very creepy man before them. At the sight of his genitals, Emma let out a blood crippling scream before collapsing in her frazzled husband's arms.

Wincing, Finn and Rachel let out a hiss as they passed the older couple and moved towards the kitchen located a few feet away. As soon as they arrived, they grabbed the nearest thing they could find.

Finn pointed at each object laid out in front of him. "Okay, we've got peanut butter, bread, jelly- wait, where's the butter knife?" Just as he said that, Rachel pulled open the draw and took out one.

"Dave, what the hell are you doing?!" Rachel looked over to her left and found Santana frowning at her boyfriend in disapproval as he tried to construct a sad excuse of a PB&J sandwich.

He continued to smear the grape preservatives on sloppily. "Making a sandwich?" He said.

She hit him at the back of the head. "That's not a sandwich, idiot! We're gonna lose!" Swiftly, she picked up the sloppy sandwich and pitched it in the garbage.

Straightening up quickly, he faced her, his eyes, ablaze. "Are you out of your mind, Satan?!" He yelled.

She glared back. "No, but I will be out of a relationship if you continue to piss me off." She slowly turned around and began to start over.

"Done." Focusing back on their situation, Rachel looked at their spot to see that Finn was, in fact, done.

"Wow, Finn," she praised, examining the neatly sliced lunch, "No crust? I'm impressed."

He waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, just put it in the bag," he said. The brunette frowned at his tone before complying. When she finished, he offered his arm and they made their way to the front of the mansion.

"One, two, one, two," Finn mumbled to himself. The passed the dining room.

Rachel took this opportunity to look up at him and smile. "We might actually win this."

Finn looked over her shoulder to see Santofsky not so far behind. "I wouldn't get my hopes up too high," he said doubtfully. They rounded the corner where the staircase was, getting closer and closer to the front door. Upon seeing the limo out front, Finn and Rachel smiled and moved faster...

Thinking back, that probably wasn't the best idea.

One minute, they're passing through the threshold of the mansion with ease, and the next, they're slipping on some unknown substance, ultimately landing on top of each other like stacks of pancakes.

Groaning, Finn and Rachel clutched at their sides as they writhed on the wooden floor. After one minute, Finn slowly started to sit up. "You okay, Rach?" He asked.

She frowned and sat up also, wiping at her face. "Yeah. Just wet." The sound of footsteps in the distance caught the couple's attention as it got louder each second.

Before they could even collect themselves, Karofsky and Santana came running from behind them. Upon seeing their disarrayed state, they slowed down.

Karofsky let out a hiss. "Ooh, that's unfortunate. Guess they should've watched where they were goin', huh?" He tugged the Latina's arm with a smirk. "C'mon, Santana." From their spot on the ground, the couple could see her hesitance as she continued to stand there, a concerned look on her face. Finally, after three forceful tugs from her boyfriend, she relented. Finn and Rachel watched helplessly as they rounded the corner to the limos.

And boy was Finn mad.

"Ugh!" He stood up as fast as he could with Rachel still attached to him and faced her. "This is bullshit! They've been cheating this whole time!"

The brunette started to stand up as she spoke, "And who's going to go home when this thing is over? _Them._ So, let's focus less on what they're doing and more on how we're getting to that finish line." She started moving closer to him. That's when Finn noticed her limping.

"Woah, woah woah." He reached out a hand to stop her. "You okay? What's wrong?"

"My ankle," she said curtly, frowning. "I think it's sprained."

Finn's eyes widened as he stared at the swollen foot silently. _Fuck._

He eventually snapped out of it and shook his head. "No, no, it's fine...we can-we can just-"

"Give up," Rachel interrupted. She sighed, drooping her shoulders. "C'mon, Finn. It's over. Let's just...take the L and accept that we lost this round." Finn stared at Rachel's restless eyes as she shrugged carelessly in a defeated nature. Is she right? Should they really give up? If they throw in the towel now, they'd at least get second place, and that's as good as any of them can get at this point. As he stared into her big brown red, his mind ran a mile a minute with possible solutions to their current situation.

"No."

Finn watched as the brunette's eyes widened in surprise. He shook his head. "We've come way too far to let some half-assed couple win. Let's do it for us."

She frowned. "Okay, but how are we going to…" Her voice faltered at the mischievous look on her partner's face. Finn grinned.

"I've got an idea."

* * *

Karofsky howled in laughter as he and Santana zoomed past a flustered looking Kurt and Blaine as they tried to make a sandwich.

Even after leaving the house, the bulky man still couldn't hold in his giggles. "Oh my god, this is amazing!" He moved to wipe his eyes as they slowed down at a balanced pace. He looked at the Latina, "Finchel's stuck at the front porch and Hansel and Gretel over there are still trying to make a sandwich." He smiled widely at her. "Am I brilliant or what?"

At that moment, a pattering sound coming from behind them caught both of Santana and Karofsky's attention. They turned around slowly.

"What..." Santana mumbled, mouth agape.

Racing down the hill was a slimy, yet more determined version of their competitor, his girlfriend clinging onto his back like her life depended on it.

"ONE, TWO, ONE, TWO, ONE, TWO!" Rachel and Finn yelled in unison.

David's eyes widened. "Oh shit! Santana, let's go!" He tugged her arm and they picked up the pace.

"ONE, TWO, ONE, TWO, ONE, TWO!" Rachel laughed at the frightened look in their competitors eyes as they got closer and closer to the finish line.

Finn craned his head to look at her. "Think we can make it to first place?"

She shook her head and smiled. "No, but runner up is a close second." She could see Santofsky approaching the finish line in the distance. But she didn't care. This was the most fun she's ever had competing in something even remotely physical.

Once they arrived at the finish line, Finn bent his knees so Rachel could slide off of his back.

Brittany's eyes widened at their appearance. "Woah, what happened to you guys?"

Finn feigned confusion and frowned. "Gee, I don't know." He turned towards his rivals with crossed arms. "Santana? David? Got any ideas?"

"No," David said quickly, averting his gaze from the host's frowning one. "We were too behind to see. Sorry."

In that moment, Kurt and Blaine arrived, slowing to a stop in front of them.

Placing his hands on his knees, Kurt hunched over as he tried to catch his breath.

"We...finally...did it." He turned his head to look at his husband. "I don't know how we're going to have kids in the future if we can't even construct a sandwich."

Panting also, Blaine shook his head. "Running _definitely_ isn't my thing. Boxing, yes, but relay races? No way."

Karofsky leaned towards Santana amusedly. "Did he just say he boxes?" He whispered.

Kurt frowned as he looked around him. "Where's Will and Emma? They _have_ to be ahead of us, if we just arrived."

Brittany bit her lip as she walked closer to them. "Yeah, about that...Will and Emma just arrived at the hospital."

Rachel gasped. "Oh my god, are they okay?" She asked worriedly.

The blonde waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, yeah, they're fine. Emma got a little freaked out at what she saw so wanted to get a few decontamination showers in before the next round. Which leads me to my next announcement." Brittany set her icy blue eyes on Santofsky, her expression hard.

"One of my crew members told me what you guys did, and I'm so disappointed. More disappointed than when cat started smoking again."

Blaine frowned. "Wait, what did they do?"

"Prior to the competition, Santana and David paid some of my crew members to _alter_ the playing fields in this competition. _Literally._ "

Kurt turned to his competitors quickly. "Wait, _you_ were the ones that stole our sheets?"

" _And_ put that sticky liquid on the steps so we'd fall?" Rachel added pointedly, with crossed arms.

Despite all of the accusations, the buff man scoffed. "What?! N-No we didn't! Santana and I were playing fair the whole game!" He looked at Brittany. "Where'd you get that anyways?"

With that, the blonde rose the bullhorn in her hand to her mouth. "Jacob!" She hollered. Immediately, a short, familiar looking guy with an afro came rushing down the hill.

He pushed his glasses up the bridge his nose and nodded. "Yes, my beautiful queen?"

"Did Santana and Karofsky pay you to pull your pants down in front of Will and Emma?"

Gulping, Jacob cut his eye at the new couple, freezing at the threatening look in David's eye. He looked back at his boss. "N-No, n-not at all." Noticing his lie, Brittany to turned towards him fully, and lifted up her shirt, exposing her chest for all to see. The cameraman's eyes grew wide as he froze in his spot.

"Are you sure?" She cooed, leaning closer to him.

He gulped again. "U-Uh…" With her shirt still up, Brittany reached out to caress his face.

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you?" She asked innocently. He shook his head slowly.

"Then, what _really_ happened?" She asked softly.

"D-David said he would give me a piece of the money he wins if I...distract the older couple...somehow." His eyelids were hooded as they continued to stare at her chest. "Can I touch them?" He asked. Immediately, she pulled her shirt down.

"No," she said curtly, before turning around. "Oh, and you're fired. My crew doesn't disobey their boss, no matter what price tag." Her back remained to him, as the older man cried out in sorrow for his loss of a job, two security guards escorting him out, during the process.

It was silent for a moment, as everyone's eyes were on the couple.

David sighed. "Okay. We did it," he confessed. "But you're totally making it seem worse than it is."

Finn glared at him. "Dude, Rachel's ankle is sprained!"

"And Emma and Will are at the hospital!" Blaine said. David just rolled his eyes.

"I trusted you, San," Brittany looked at the Latina sadly. "I was actually rooting for you guys."

The Latina's eyes were remorseful. "And you still can, Brit." They stared at each other in silence. Finally, Brittany sighed.

"I'm sorry, guys, but you're disqualified. I hate to do this because of how far we are in this competition, but this is unacceptable. Return to your rooms and pack your bags. You'll be leaving tonight."

Santana's shoulders dropped and she nodded with a sigh. "We understand." She looked at the other two couples. "I'm really sorry, guys." With one last longingful look at the tearful host, she turned around and retreated back to the house, her boyfriend a few feet behind.

David continued to smirk as he passed Finn and Rachel. "Yeah...," he shoved Finn, " _sorry_." Eyes blazing, Finn moved to shove him back, before being held back by his fiancé.

"Have a nice day,... _gaytards_ ," he chuckled as he passed Klaine.

Blaine scoffed. "That's not even an original name!" He hollered back. Shaking his head, Kurt rubbed his husband's back soothingly. A moment of silence passed over all of them.

Brittany lightly wiped at her eye, chuckling softly. "Well," she started, "that was a little sadder than I expected." She faced the group with a small smile. "Well, since Santana and Karofsky are now disqualified, the first place prize goes to, Finn and Rachel!" Brittany and Klaine clapped for the couple who bashfully smiled in return.

Finn sighed and shrugged. "Well, it was hard, but we did it."

Kurt snickered, "And with no pants?" Kurt and Blaine burst out in laughter at the giant's Batman boxers and the brunette's pantless legs that were majorically covered by her long t-shirt. Blushing, Finn moved her behind him, away from the cameras.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, we couldn't really use the pants, so we just...ditched them." He said.

Brittany smiled. "Because of your exceptional teamwork and cooperation, whatever that means, we are rewarding you a free date at one of California's best restaurants in town!"

Kurt's eyes glistened at this. "Ooh, is it _Bestia_? I heard their chicken francese is to _die_ for." Excited chatter followed soon after as he and Blaine talked about the restaurant's best dishes.

Amid the noise, Finn rose his hand. "Uh, yeah, about that...Rach and I were wondering if there will be, like, cameras on this date?" He asked.

She shook her head quickly. "No cameras. Just you and your partner. We wanted you to have some alone time before the next competition ."

"So we're going out _tonight?"_ Rachel shared an excited smile with Finn.

Brittany nodded. "Yep. After your interview, you can get ready and head on out."

* * *

"Welcome back guys! How've you been?" Brittany asked as Finn and Rachel sat down in front of her in the interviewing room.

Finn's eyes shifted awkwardly as he said, "Uh, not so good...Rachel's ankle is sprained and I had to shower twice to get the sticky stuff off-"

Rachel touched his arm to stop him. "Other than that, we're fine. No reason to complain," she said with a smile.

"Good." Brittany smiled. She looked down at her paper. "So, today it was discovered that Santana Karofsky cheated in today's competition." Finn and Rachel nodded. "Care to tell me your thoughts?"

"To be honest, I knew something was off with them from the start," Finn said with a shrug. "I mean, the way they pushed Rachel in the pool next week…" he took a deep breath and clenched his jaw, "I was five seconds from kicking Karofsky's ass."

Rachel reached out to gently squeeze her finance's arm. "Today just summed up what we've been thinking all along."

"And what's that?" Brittany asked, her head tilted to the side.

Her eyes were soft. "That they're relationship is toxic. That…David's dangerous when you're in his way."

"Do you think that's the same case with Santana?" The host asked softly, eyes downcast.

Upon seeing her expression, Rachel backtracked. "U-Uh...I don't think Santana was as ruthless and apathetic as...Karofsky was. I-I mean, sometimes I saw her looking remorseful for what she did-"

"But that didn't stop her from actually _doing_ it Rach," Finn pointed out with a raised eyebrow. He looked down at her. "If she felt so guilty about it, she would've stopped it from happening in the first place." Rachel's heart hammered in her chest at their strong eye contact and she swallowed hard, before looking down at her lap bashfully.

It was silent for a moment. She heard Brittany release a sigh. "Well, at least the easy part is over."

That's when Rachel snapped her head up. She shared a look with her fiance before looking at the blond dumbfoundedly.

"Th-This wasn't the hardest part?" Finn stuttered, bewildered.

The host found this funny and started to giggle. "Oh no," she shook her head with a smile. "This is just the beginning. Remember what I said? It only gets harder from here." Rachel and Finn looked at each other in alarm, gulping loudly.

No one ever said it was easy.

* * *

Rachel pointed her thumb at the staircase awkwardly. "I'm just...i'm just gonna go...get ready for-

"Yeah," Finn nodded in understanding, rubbing the back for his neck sheepishly. She turned around and towards the stairs. "I'll be here," he called as she climbed the steps, "...alone." The bartender sighed and slumped his shoulders as he rested his back against the front door.

After their long and _very_ uncomfortable interview, Brittany told them that they could head out to their date. Part of him was relieved that he could finally act the way he wanted and not all lovey-dovey with the brunette, and the other part sort of...missed it. Like, for example, when he sits in that way too creepy interview room in that way too comfortable couch with her, he sort of likes how close they are. And when he gets riled up at something stupid Karofsky does to piss him off, he actually _calms down_ when she touches or kisses him. _Noone_ aside from his mom has been able to do that.

And that's the problem. He doesn't know what this means and it's confusing the shit out of him; more than when his high school health teacher taught the sex ed unit and used a cucumber as a demonstration.

"See what I mean? You don't listen!"

"How am I supposed to listen, when your fat ass keeps yelling?!"

Finn frowned at the sudden outburst coming from the living room to the left of him. Making sure his steps were soft, he walked slowly down the hallway, cautious of a cameraman behind him. The giant moved his head around the corner to get a better view.

It was Santana and Karofsky. And they were really going at it.

David stopped pacing and turned towards the Latina. "First, it was the pool. I simply asked you to push her hard enough so that she _stays_ in the water."

Her face was incredulous. "You wanted me to break her back! The point of the game was to gently push them into the pool, not make them handicapped!"

"Then tell me why you thought _honey_ was the best liquid to make them trip?"

Santana frowned and shook her head. "Oh, no. That was _you_. That was all _you_. _You_ paid that freak with the Afro to lay out all of those booby traps. I didn't do anything but stay silent and let you ruin our chances in the competition, and my relationship with Brittany."

He threw his head back and groaned. "Oh, please, I was doing you a favor." He set his eyes on hers. "Brittany couldn't give a flying _shit_ about you. If it weren't for the producers telling her what was going on, her dumb ass probably would've handed us the money right then!" Karofsky watched as the black haired stripper rose both of her eyebrows, taken aback.

Shaking her head, she walked closer to him. "No….no, see, you can yell at me, call me names-hell, you can even call me garbage face for all I care. But what you're _not_ gonna do is bring my girl into it." Her eyes bored into his in a steely glare, her face less than a foot from his.

She tilted her head to the side, feigning concern. "Where's all this anger coming from, Davey? Are you angry because Finn and Rachel's relationship will never be ours?"

"Get out of my face, Santana," he muttered with a glare.

"Or is it another couple?" She smirked at his taken aback expression. "I mean, you talk a lot of game about how being gay is wrong, but do you really feel that way?"

His voice got louder. "I said, get out of my face, Santana."

She laughed humorlessly. "What are you gonna do? You gonna hit me? Because Lord knows i've been waiting for your weak, in denial, ass to fight ba-" Before she could finish, David moved his arm in a punching motion towards his girlfriend. Luckily, she had fast enough reflexes and dodged him to the left.

"I said, get out of my face!" He roared. The Latina found this funny and laughed.

"Wow! Looks like we've got a swinger over here!" Her boyfriend remained in his spot, his breath labored.

Her chuckles finally subsided, her arms spread wide. "See, this is why we would never work. You're fucking crazy, David." And with that, she turned around started to leave the room.

"Oh, and we're over. Probably should've told you that earlier," she hollered over her shoulder before moving farther away. As David watched her leave, he saw red.

"Ugh!" With a loud groan, Karofsky threw a punch at a wall nearby, putting a good dent in it. Pain immediately shot to his hand and he found himself mumbling obscenities as he started to turn around and walk; in _his_ direction.

Finn eyes widened. " _Shit!"_ He whispered loudly. Turning around quickly, the bartender tip-toed quickly down the hallway to the front entrance of the mansion. When the coast was clear, he exhaled a breath, leaning on his hand that was placed on the house's front door.

"Ready?"

With a loud yelp, Finn jumped before turning towards the owner of the voice.

She frowned, a smile on her face. "What's with the jumpiness? You knew I was coming back."

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "It's-it's nothing, okay? You just...startled me."

The brunette continued to look wary, as her fiance opened the door and led her outside. She shrugged.

"If you say so."

* * *

To be honest, she doesn't know why she thought things would be any different.

Remember that date they scored for winning first place? The date that was _supposed_ to be at one of California's best restaurants in town? Yeah, it turns out the best _affordable_ restaurant in this surprisingly rich town was Paula's Meat House.

How mortified she was when she walked in and saw all of those precious animals served on rotisserie stakes and dinner plates. Normally a few pieces of meat wouldn't scare her, but they were everywhere! Not a single fruit or vegetable was being served, and when she asked the waiter if they had any vegan options, he laughed right in her face. It took a few "cut it outs" from Finn to get the surly man to vanish.

"I can't believe out of all of the restaurant's in California they take us to this...this _slaughterhouse_." Rachel crinkled her nose in disgust at the at the decorative depictions of roadkill and animals plastered on the walls throughout the restaurant. Finn chuckled at her expression.

He started cutting his food. "Rach, the food is actually _good_. Yeah it's not some prissy little place that gives you tiny servings of food, but at least it's something," he said before shrugging and shoving a rather large piece of meat into his mouth.

At the rather repulsive action, she scowled. "Can you not eat like that?"

"Can you not be so goddamn annoying?" He countered back, without looking up from his plate. When he didn't get his snarky comeback of the hour, he lifted his head and looked at her. Guilt filled his gut at her sad expression as she looked at her surroundings uncomfortably. He threw his head back and closed his eyes. _Damn his self-conscience._

Finn sighed and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and and looking around.

Seeing their waitress walk by, he snapped his fingers to catch his attention. "Hey. You with the jokes, come here." When he arrived, Finn handed him his plate. "I'd like to have this wrapped up to go," the man started to leave but he stopped him, " _without_ the remarks about my girlfriend."

The heavyset man nodded obediently, a smirk on his face. "Right away, sir." He said. Finn watched as he walked away, eyes narrowed suspiciously."

"Uh, hello?" Finn looked back at his frenemy, only to find her frowning. "Can you tell me why you're packing your food up? Because you and I both know-"

"Shh," Finn held his hand up to stop her before pulling out his phone to search something. The brunette rose an eyebrow, taken aback.

"Excuse me?"

"Here's your steak, sir." A shorter man arrived at a table with a take-out bag and placed it on the table. He looked at Rachel. "Hey, were you the one who asked for the tofu salad?"

She frowned. "Yes, that's me," she said, warily. At those words, the man erupted in boisterous laughter, the loud noise emitting from his small frame.

From two tables down, their previous waiter pointed at the man and laughed. "Told you I wasn't joking!" The small man continued to cackle in front of the couple, a hand covering his stomach. A wounded expression took over Rachel's face and she shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Seeing this, Finn stood up from his seat, facing the guy with his arms crossed. The man grew silent, his eyes wide as he looked up at him.

"Uh, I….uh-I…"

"Yeah." Finn said curtly, nodding. His mouth remained in a straight line as he watched the man mumble an apology and scramble out the room. The bartender reached down to grab his bag.

The brunette stood up also. "Finn." He looked at her. "Can you tell me what the hell is going on?"

He turned around and started walking towards the door. "We're going somewhere," he said simply. When he reached the door, he turned around, his expression amused. "You coming?"

Closing her gaping mouth, she scoffed before quickly catching up to him.

* * *

"Ohmygawwwd," Finn watched amusedly as his fake fiancé delved into a rather large cup of vegan blueberry ice cream, from across from him.

He grinned. "Glad you're liking the ice cream," he said.

She stopped eating a moment to look at him, eyes wide. " _Like_ it? This is the best vegan ice cream I've ever tasted!" She scooped another mouthful into her mouth, taking the time to close her eyes and moan as the flavor stirred in her mouth.

 _Speaking of stirring,_ Finn thought as he shifted slightly in his seat. She really needs to stop making those sounds-because, you know, he's a guy, with, like ,a boatload of hormones.

He doesn't know why he expected the place to smell anything _less_ than an ice cream shop, but he guesses that's what he gets for judging a vegan by its flavor preferences. Like, he's _actually_ mouth watering at that blueberry goulash Rachel is eating.

"Finn?"

He kept his eyes on her ice cream. "Hmm?"

She giggled. "You've been staring at my ice cream for five minutes. Do you want to try some?"

He rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged. "Uh, yeah, sure. Whatever." With a grin, she scooped up a huge spoonful of the cold dessert and started to move it towards him.

The grossed out bartender shook his head furiously, moving away from the utensil. "Nope. Rachel, you're not feeding m-" he was silenced by a plastic spoon being shoved in his mouth. He was silent as he continued to enjoy the ice cream.

Rachel smirked and leaned back in her seat. "There," she said, crossing her arms, "that'll shut you up." Mouth still closed, Finn glared at her. After a moment of peaceful silence, Finn sighed and licked his lips.

"Well?" Rachel asked.

He looked away. "It was fine."

" _Just_ fine?" She teased.

"Okay, it was good," Finn relented, looking back at her. She laughed and he grinned. "You happy, midget? I actually liked one of your weird snacks."

Rachel grinned coyly and started to stand up. "I'm very happy. Now, whenever we have another dinner potluck dinner back home, you'll _have_ to eat my food." Finn stood as well as she threw her trash out. He opened the door for her.

"Yeah," he said, smirking as she passed him.

"Keep telling yourself that."

* * *

"Thanks, by the way."

Snapping out of his thoughts, Finn looked up from the ground and looked at her.

"For the ice cream," she continued as they strolled down the streets of California. "It was really nice of you."

He rubbed the back his neck and looked away. "Yeah, well, something told me that the restaurant was gonna suck-at least for you. You'd be surprised how many vegan ice cream shops are in this town."

She smiled softly. "Well, I appreciate it," At that moment, they shared eye contact. Instantly, everything within Finn felt on fire.

He broke the silence and shrugged, "Just trying to be a good fiance." Immediately, he backtracked. "A _fake_ one, I mean. G-Gotta keep the appearances up, right?" Blush filled his once pale cheeks as he looked away from her for the second time that night. Rachel frowned. _What's gotten into him?_

"One dollar roses! One dollar roses! Show your significant other how much you care with a red rose!" An middle aged man holding a bouquet of roses behind a vendor's cart caught the attention of the couple.

The guy snapped his fingers at a family in the distance. "Hey, you want a rose?" The family of three continued walking and he frowned. "Oh, come on, one rose?"

Finn rose his hand, walking towards him. "Hey, i'd like one."

Rachel sighed, shaking her head. "Finn, what are you doing-"

"One dollar, my son," the vender said, as he pulled one out of his hand. Reaching into his wallet, Finn pulled out a single dollar bill. With a grin, the man handed him the flower.

"It was pleasure doing business with you, sir," he said gleefully. He leaned forward and grinned at the brunette. "You've got a keeper."

"Thanks," Rachel said meekly with a smile. Saying goodbye to the man, the couple continued on.

"Here," Finn said, handing her the flower. "Figured you'd like it since it matches your dress."

Grinning softly, Rachel blushed, while looking at the rose in her hand. "Thanks, Finn." The bartender smirked and gently nudged her with his hip.

"No problem, Munchkin." Chuckling softly, she nudged him back.

Things could've gotten a whole lot worse with the day turned out. But they managed to stick it through- as a team. She'd never admit it outloud, but she's actually glad he convinced her to join this competition. Rachel looked up at him as they continued to walk back to the limo. Catching her gaze, he grinned lopsidedly at her before looking straight once again.

She guesses he's not that bad either.

* * *

 **There you go, guys. If I had a penny for the amount of times I told myself I would finish this and post it, i'd be a millionaire. Anyways, I hoped you enjoyed this very overdue update. I can't tell you the next time i'll post, because a lot of stuff is going on but I promise it'll be soon.**

 **If you have any concerns or questions, let me know in your reviews.**

 **Love,**

 **~Vikki3775**


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